Wild Flower Seeds
The requirements of Wild Flower Seeds, and the plants which they eventually produce, are extremely similar to those of people! We need fresh air, and so do they [OK, what we breathe out during the day, they breathe in... and vice versa]. We need an adequate supply of water, so do they, otherwise dehydration can quickly set in. Sunshine is a bonus to us both, though some of us prefer the shade. And food... that is where wild flowers are more like us than their cultivated relatives... they grow best in poor soil [not too much rich food] if they're given too rich a soil they do not perform at all well! So if you want to grow your wild flower seeds to be the best they can be... it is best to study where they grow naturally and try to mimic those conditions for them. Be it shady, or full sun, dry chalky downland, sandy soil or clay, water meadow or wood... give them the conditions they love, and they will grow beautifully. That said, you can grow wild flowers in tubs in your garden. Then move them around into and out of the sun according to their requirements and the growing conditions in a particular year... if you do not have room for a full scale wild flower meadow. I have personally kept primroses, wood anemones and cowslips successfully for many years in tubs. Thompson & Morgan have been famous for their quality seeds for many years. They ship to Canada, the USA, Europe, etcetera [in fact the only places they specifically exclude are Australia, New Zealand and South Africa - because of restrictions]; and you will find that shipping charges are extremely reasonable. Thompson & Morgan
Once you have clicked on the above link you will find an extremely useful website with many helpful links on the left, and an easy alphabetical quick index or illustrated index to choose from. And just one word of special praise... they 'over-deliver'... well they have done whenever I've used their services!
Buy Wildflower Seeds Online
When you... click this link to call in to CROCUS for your wild flower seeds ... you will reach a TOP TEN website, and the number of facilities upon the site will truly amaze you. [Not only is 'Crocus' a Garden Writers Guild website of the year winner, jam packed with everything to do with flowers and gardening, but also, from the site you can register for Alan Titchmarsh's Garden Care Tips e-mails!] Definitely, a not-to-be-missed web resource! When you are searching for wild flower seeds at Crocus, please note... type 'wildflowers' into the lower search box, in one word... it doesn't work when you type in two separate words [well it didn't work for me anyway!] Extra ... a 'Wildflower Scatter Garden' from the 'Wedding Favors' page. Lovely little gifts... why not check them out? [USA only.] Here in the UK there are strict laws governing the picking of any wild flowers, and the gathering of wild flower seeds. It is therefore advisable not to harvest any wild flower seeds from the wild. Buy your seeds from a reputable source. The websites mentioned above, [with links for your convenience,] I can heartily recommend - please only buy your seeds from reputable sources, dodgy suppliers are not worth the risk... to you, or to our environment.
[Please see our separate page about laws regarding Wild Flower Seeds and harvesting plants and seeds from the wild.] Another problem is people putting cultivated plants and bulbs out into the wild... there is a problem in that they may interbreed and so dilute our native species, and also as these cultivated plants may be stronger, they may oust the native species. There are two particular spring flowers which I can think of which may be at risk. The delightful diminutive native daffodil, [incidentally it is well worth driving down the M50 from the Midlands to South Wales in March just to view the daffodils..... on the sides of the roads, and also spreading out into the fields and woods,] and the bluebell. I don't think the cultivated bluebell, in any way, compares with our beautiful native plant. We, in the UK, are extremely lucky having our bluebell woods, as our country is a bluebell haven, unlike the rest of Europe which has a very poor supply... the reason is the wild boar which root up anything and everything in European woods. It is to be hoped that the pigs which have been allowed to escape in this country are not allowed to decimate too much of our natural flora before something is done to keep their numbers down.
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