California native wildflowers are best sown early in the rainy season; depending on the year that can be anytime from October to January. Adding seeds of native bunch grasses to your seed mix creates even better, and more natural conditions for the wildflower garden.
Our wildflower seed packets contain 1 teaspoon of mixed seed; enough for about twenty square feet. The seed mixture contains both annual and perennial species that will bloom from spring to late fall.
Choose an area with at least six hours of sun a day; part shade is OK for some species, but generally the more sun, the better the results. The area will need to be weeded, and the soil loosened to about a depth of two inches.
Mix the wildflower seed with sand; make sure it's river sand, not beach or playbox sand. Seed mixed with sand assures a more even spread. Scatter this mix over the area that has been prepared. Pat it down by hand, or walk on it to assure good seed to soil contact. Cover the seeded area with a light mulch, which can be straw or bark, but make sure it is not too densely covered. You can either water, or let the rains take care of it!
If regular rains fail after germination has occurred, occasional watering will be necessary for a beautiful display of wildflowers. Regular attention to weeding out unwanted species will be rewarded by more vigorous growth of the native wildflower species.
Let your wildflowers re-seed themselves for increasingly beautiful displays year after year!
Excerpt from Is That Plant Really Native? Genetic Considerations for Conservation, Restoration and Horticulture by Dr. Paul G. da Silva: "...Current recommendations for maintaining genetic diversity for native plants in gardens are not as strict as those for conservation or restoration projects. If the garden is isolated from natural stands of related native plants, the genetic contamination threat to native neighbors is low, and if the gardener is willing to give extra care to the garden plants, even native plants not well adapted to that particular site may perform well. Still, it is always good to try to find out the origin of all planting stock and to plant those plants most similar to the original native plants present on the site. This recommendation becomes more important the closer a native plant garden is to undisturbed natural areas."