"Wild" flowers from seed - Special Issue: Fall/Winter Garden Guide

Sunset, Fall-Winter, 1994

SOME CULTIVATED flowers have the informal look and the free-wheeling habit of wildflowers. The six listed at far right are favorites with garden designers we interviewed. Planted this fall, they'll bloom next spring and possibly reseed themselves for many springs thereafter unless you weed them out. They often reappear where you least expect them--in gravel paths or cracks between bricks.

The lower-growing ones work well in garden beds. The two poppies are best in wild gardens, in meadows, or behind vegetable gardens.

Except where noted, all can be planted in October from seed or nursery transplants. Broadcast seeds on cultivated, well-drained soil; mix the finest seeds with sand before scattering them. Keep soil moist until seeds germinate.

6 to sow for show

CALIFORNIA POPPY (Eschscholzia californica). Golden blooms brighten wild gardens. Broadcast seed where plants will grow. Plant in full sun.

CHRYSANTHEMUM PALUDOSUM. White daisies on 8- to 10-inch stems. Sun or part shade.

CINERARIA (Senecio hybridus). Daisylike flowers on 12- to 15-inch plants. Where frost is likely, plant in spring, or in protected spots. Grows best in coastal California in cool, shaded borders.

FORGET-ME-NOT (Myosotis sylvatica). Tiny blue flowers brighten moist, shady spots.

JOHNNY-JUMP-UP (Viola tricolor). Little pansy look-alikes. For a quicker start, set out seedlings in fall (in spring where winters are cold). Part shade.

SHIRLEY POPPY (Papaver rhoeas). Crepepapery, single or double blooms in pinks, reds, oranges, or white on 2- to 3-foot plants. In mild climates, sow in fall for early-spring bloom; in cold-winter areas, sow in spring for later bloom. Full sun.