Grow California Wildflowers! -- SoCalNPG Ep. 39

Here is a virtual tour of our spring wildflowers: 20 or so California native wildflowers grown from seed this season. The seed mix came from Tree of Life Nursery in San Juan Capistrano, my go-to California native plant nursery. The wildflowers are easy and fun to grow. Just remember to water them frequently until they germinate. They're gorgeous and they add a spot of bright, vibrant color to any landscape!
The wildflowers include: Baby blue-eyes, Bird's-eye gilia, Blue flax, Blue gilia, Blue-eyed grass, California poppies, Elegant clarkia, Farewell-to-Spring, Lewis flax, Mountain garland, Prairie flax, Tidy tips,

[@MrElemonator]

Scarlet Flax looks great with that white alyssum. Texas Sage is a great plant

[@freewheelinprincess]

Absolutely stunning!

[@southerncalnativeplantgard3777]

Thanks. And this year has been pretty good for wildflowers, with winter/spring being wetter & cooler than usual.

[@patti5874]

Thank you! Nicely done video. I live in San Gabriel and our school garden beds are made up of decomposed granite. Great to know what native flowers will grow in it.

[@southerncalnativeplantgard3777]

Yes, I am always a little surprised to see what will grow in the decomposed granite but the wildflowers are well adapted to it.

[@toomanythoughtsinmyhead]

That second white flower at 7:44 looks like a honeysuckle and the peachy pink one next to it reminds me of penstemon. Thank you for the video.

[@southerncalnativeplantgard3777]

Thanks for commenting.

[@phoenixcastiel8459]

I miss home . I want to learn about my culture finally.🌻🌸🌼

[@andrewhallock4860]

Great video. Good info. Thanks for the tips. 😁

[@southerncalnativeplantgard3777]

You're welcome. With all the rain we've had recently this coming spring looks like it might be a great year for wildflowers. That's the way it was the last time we had lots of rain-- we had a bumper crop of wildflowers. I haven't planted any new seed yet, but if this rain will stop for a while, I'll plant something in the next couple of weeks.

[@alkatifi1]

Very nice video
Can you share what best source to get wild flower seed and what best time to plant them? I am also live in Southern California in upland thank you

[@southerncalnativeplantgard3777]

Down south in San Juan Capistrano is Tree of Life Nursery, in Claremont is Grown Native Nursery, & in the San Fernando Valley is Theodore Payne Nursery.
Many other nurseries sell generic wildflower seed but these three (& probably other nurseries that specialize in California native plants) have quality California wildflower seed so you know you're getting seed for California wildflowers.
They have packets of several different seed mixes or seeds of individual wildflowers such as, for example, California poppies.
Now, (late fall) is a good time to plant wildflower seed. Other good times are in late winter to early spring. So good luck!

[@HRTsAFyre]

Any idea how to design a landscape around a wild flower mix?

[@southerncalnativeplantgard3777]

Do you have an established garden or is it bare ground, or something in between? The wildflower mix, how many different types of wildflower seed does it have?
When we redid our front yard 7 years ago we started with a lot of different types & sizes of perennials. Then we added wildflower starts & seeds among the perennials & at the front of borders (because wildflowers are typically shorter & look best at the front of borders.) So I used the wildflowers as filler for spring color. Then each year in fall or early spring I've added more wildflower seed.
There are some wildflowers that are perennial & have a long bloom season. But most are annuals, blooming in spring but dying back in the heat of summer. So these annuals look spectacular in springtime but don't "show" well in the other seasons. That's how it has been in my garden. I'm only 30-30 miles from the coast but still our summers, especially August & September, are quite hot. I hope this helps. If you find something that works well, please let me know.

[@HRTsAFyre]

@@southerncalnativeplantgard3777 I have a box of mixed seeds that says butterfly mix and the other box is for birds. Right now my lawn is dead and the edible plant that took over is considered a weed. The seeds screw into the ground. So it needs to be weeded. I like your filler idea!

[@southerncalnativeplantgard3777]

One thing you might try is this: Cover all of the dead grass with layers of newspaper. Over the newspaper, put down a layer of bark mulch. The newspaper will suppress both the lawn and the weeds. The bark mulch will hold the newspaper in place, while making a better appearance.
Decide where to make paths & open areas & where you want to locate your flowerbeds. Put short perennials at the front of the beds, medium sized in the middle, and taller plants toward the back.
To plant them, dig holes through the newspaper, plant the perennials and water them in well.
Toward the front of the beds & in between the perennials, dig various pockets and plant your wildflower seed in them. To make sure the seed germinates, water the wildflower pockets every day & sometimes twice a day when it's hot. If you don't, the wildflower seed won't germinate.
This is just a sketch of this technique, but you can find TH-cam videos showing you step-by-step how to do it.
It might be better to start this project in October. Your plants will probably have a better survival rate if planted in the fall. But it might be possible to do now before the summer heat really hits in July. Personally, I'd probably wait till October. You can plant the wildflower seed then. It will be well watered over the winter & the wildflowers will bloom next spring.
Good luck with whatever you decide!

[@southerncalnativeplantgard3777]

To clarify, you may want to wait until fall to plant. But it would be a good idea to put down newspaper and bark mulch right now. That way it will completely kill off all the grass and weeds so you will have less problem with weeds when you plant in the fall.