Spring weather is finally here for most parts of the country. Yesterday was downright hot here! Time to start planting gardens – both flower and vegetable. Today as part of our Establish A House series I’m sharing how we plant a “wild” flower garden every year. These pictures were taken five years ago. I can’t believe how much the kids have grown!
There is a long narrow strip of dirt in our front yard that just begs for flowers. I could design a landscape for it and fill it with perennials but I prefer a “wild” look. It’s easy to do, we get to see the flowers grow from seed, and it never looks the same way from year to year. It also provides the terrific spot for a summer nature study.
Everyone gets to choose one type of flower they want to plant. To keep the garden “wild” looking we mix all the seeds together in a paper bag. We open a bag of potting soil into a wheelbarrow, then pour all of our flower seeds into it. This year we are planting several varieties of daisies, sunflowers, marigolds, zinnias, poppies and other wildflowers. After pouring all our seeds over the potting soil we mix it really well.
After mixing the soil and seeds we spread it evenly all over our flower bed. This creates a “wild” flower garden, which I just love. There is no rhyme or reason to where the seeds fall.
We keep it watered and play the waiting game – for several weeks – until the seeds start sprouting. Now the fun really begins. We all learn to identify what each flower is by looking at the leaves.
Whoever spots the first bloom of the year gets a special treat!
Throughout the summer we continue to watch our garden grow and bloom.
Looks nice and “wild” doesn’t it? When the plants start blooming you’ll find:
It really is beautiful to see! Even the hummingbirds enjoy our “wild” flowers.
Get excited for spring! Create a little spot in your yard for a “wild” flower garden.
What a great idea! My children would love doing this. Thanks for sharing.
Fun idea…Do you struggle telling the difference between weeds and flower sprouts when they first start coming up?
The first year we did this we did have trouble. We just let them grow to be about 4 inches high them it was easier to tell the difference. One year we didn’t weed at all and it was still terrific. The weeds all bloomed different flowers that were really beautiful! So now we don’t bother to weed at all. 🙂 Except for the nasty sticker weeds.
Beautiful! One day we hope to have a space to do something like this. It is a wonderful idea! And I like that you don’t weed it.
I definitely need to try this method. I spread a variety of seeds each year in a certain area, but only a handful take off. I think mixing them with the soil first is a great idea. Jazz has her own butterfly garden area that she takes care of and eagerly awaits caterpillars. Our neighbor’s yard is an official Monarch butterfly weigh station and she is so sweet about allowing Jazz to foster groups of caterpillars into butterflies each season. It’s a whole science lesson on the back porch!
I love this idea! We are going to do this. When is the best time to plant them? I have always wanted wild flowers but never got around to figuring out when to start them.
Where we live we can’t even plant a garden until the beginning of June but we can plant flowers, which are much more hardy than vegetables, starting the end of April. Maybe that will give you an idea. I think now you can plant anywhere in the country and be safe.
This is such a great tradition & what stunning photos of the flowers!!