During the 'Summer' I collected many wildflower seeds and want to sow them
to raise hardy perennial wildflower plants for my garden.

I could either sow in trays:

- outdoors in the autumn and plant out in the Spring. But friends have
found that for some reason the plants disappear over the winter
- sow outdoors in the Spring. Plants get away well but are not big enough
for planting out and surviving amongst grass etc until the next Spring
- sow in autumn and keep in a greenhouse through the winter and plant out in
spring

It is this last option that I would appreciate advice on. Is it likely to be
successful?

thanks

Davy

"Davy" wrote in message
news
During the 'Summer' I collected many wildflower seeds and want to sow them
to raise hardy perennial wildflower plants for my garden.

I could either sow in trays:

- outdoors in the autumn and plant out in the Spring. But friends have
found that for some reason the plants disappear over the winter
- sow outdoors in the Spring. Plants get away well but are not big enough
for planting out and surviving amongst grass etc until the next Spring
- sow in autumn and keep in a greenhouse through the winter and plant out
in
spring

It is this last option that I would appreciate advice on. Is it likely to
be
successful?


If they are seeds of wild flowers naturally found in Britain, go outdoors
now and throw the seeds where you want them. They'll know what to do.

Steve

"shazzbat" wrote in message
...

"Davy" wrote in message
news
During the 'Summer' I collected many wildflower seeds and want to sow
them
to raise hardy perennial wildflower plants for my garden.

I could either sow in trays:

- outdoors in the autumn and plant out in the Spring. But friends have
found that for some reason the plants disappear over the winter
- sow outdoors in the Spring. Plants get away well but are not big
enough
for planting out and surviving amongst grass etc until the next Spring
- sow in autumn and keep in a greenhouse through the winter and plant
out
in
spring

It is this last option that I would appreciate advice on. Is it likely
to
be
successful?


If they are seeds of wild flowers naturally found in Britain, go outdoors
now and throw the seeds where you want them. They'll know what to do.

Steve

Steve,
these are wildflowers to go into grass so most species cannot just be
scattered into the grass since, even if they germinated, they would be
smothered by the grass.
Davy

On Wed, 19 Sep 2007 09:21:06 +0100, "Davy"
wrote:



If they are seeds of wild flowers naturally found in Britain, go outdoors
now and throw the seeds where you want them. They'll know what to do.

Steve

Steve,
these are wildflowers to go into grass so most species cannot just be
scattered into the grass since, even if they germinated, they would be
smothered by the grass.
Davy


Even the best empty areas can fail too - a load of seeds I'd put on
wasteland came up and did really well until it started raining solidly
- they mostly drowned.
The remaining ones which flowered were picked by a dog walker who took
them home for his wife
--
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Ah fetch it yourself if you can't wait for delivery
http://www.freedeliveryuk.co.uk
Or get it delivered for free

Davy writes
During the 'Summer' I collected many wildflower seeds and want to sow them
to raise hardy perennial wildflower plants for my garden.

I could either sow in trays:

- outdoors in the autumn and plant out in the Spring. But friends have
found that for some reason the plants disappear over the winter
- sow outdoors in the Spring. Plants get away well but are not big enough
for planting out and surviving amongst grass etc until the next Spring
- sow in autumn and keep in a greenhouse through the winter and plant out in
spring

It is this last option that I would appreciate advice on. Is it likely to be
successful?

I sow bought seed in spring and collected seed in autumn, keep both in
the greenhouse when young (to avoid slugs), then move them outside in
pots and plant them out when toughened up and reasonable size - I plant
out at any time of year, but slug-sensitive pants seem to survive better
if planted in winter.

So in your case, I'd plant now. Many of the seeds you plant now won't
germinate till spring anyway (they need the cold of winter to trigger
germination - greenhouse will probably still be cold enough if it gets
down below about 40 deg F).

The ones which germinate now won't put a lot of growth on over winter.
But it gives them a start.

If your greenhouse is sufficiently warm that they *do* put on a lot of
growth, you are likely to have problems with the low light level - weak
and leggy growth, so you still wouldn't be able to plant out in spring
until after a period of higher light levels to give strong tough growth.

--
Kay

"Davy" wrote in message
om...

"shazzbat" wrote in message
...

"Davy" wrote in message
news
During the 'Summer' I collected many wildflower seeds and want to sow
them
to raise hardy perennial wildflower plants for my garden.

I could either sow in trays:

- outdoors in the autumn and plant out in the Spring. But friends have
found that for some reason the plants disappear over the winter
- sow outdoors in the Spring. Plants get away well but are not big
enough
for planting out and surviving amongst grass etc until the next Spring
- sow in autumn and keep in a greenhouse through the winter and plant
out
in
spring

It is this last option that I would appreciate advice on. Is it likely
to
be
successful?


If they are seeds of wild flowers naturally found in Britain, go outdoors
now and throw the seeds where you want them. They'll know what to do.

Steve

Steve,
these are wildflowers to go into grass so most species cannot just be
scattered into the grass since, even if they germinated, they would be
smothered by the grass.
Davy


Most wild flowers grow happily amongst grass, in meadows, riverbanks,
hedgerows etc. They are all complimentary to each other.

What plants are we talking about?

Steve

shazzbat writes

Most wild flowers grow happily amongst grass, in meadows, riverbanks,
hedgerows etc. They are all complimentary to each other.

Getting seedlings to grow in an established grass sward is a different
matter from allowing plants and grass to develop together.

There is the second point that most grassland in England appears to be
high in nutrient level, under which conditions the grass has a distinct
advantage (along with dandelions). Accepted advice for establishing a
wild flower meadow is now to remove the top layer of turf and soil to
reduce fertility, before sowing a seed mixture including both grass and
flowers.
--
Kay

In message , K
writes
shazzbat writes

Most wild flowers grow happily amongst grass, in meadows, riverbanks,
hedgerows etc. They are all complimentary to each other.

Getting seedlings to grow in an established grass sward is a different
matter from allowing plants and grass to develop together.

There is the second point that most grassland in England appears to be
high in nutrient level, under which conditions the grass has a distinct
advantage (along with dandelions). Accepted advice for establishing a
wild flower meadow is now to remove the top layer of turf and soil to
reduce fertility, before sowing a seed mixture including both grass and
flowers.

I agree. I first tried scarifying a grassed (lawn) area and sewing
mixed wildflower seeds and it was a notable failure despite carefully
tending the seeded patch. Last year I removed patches of turf and
planted perennial plugs and annual/perennial seeds and had a success. I
have now removed the turf from about 10 sq metres of ground and am
contemplating converting a further 20+ sq metres. The only thing that
has been deterring me is the effort involved in removing the turf (just
using a spade is hard work) however I have discovered that there are
turf removal machines available to hire so progress is now much more
likely.

Landlife indicate the perennial seeds may be sown in either autumn or
spring.
http://www.wildflower.org.uk/departm...g_instructions
I will be sowing in the next 10 days and reviewing the situation in
March/April to see if a top-up is necessary.

--
Robert

In message , K
writes
shazzbat writes

Most wild flowers grow happily amongst grass, in meadows, riverbanks,
hedgerows etc. They are all complimentary to each other.

Getting seedlings to grow in an established grass sward is a different
matter from allowing plants and grass to develop together.

There is the second point that most grassland in England appears to be
high in nutrient level, under which conditions the grass has a distinct
advantage (along with dandelions). Accepted advice for establishing a
wild flower meadow is now to remove the top layer of turf and soil to
reduce fertility, before sowing a seed mixture including both grass and
flowers.

I agree. I first tried scarifying a grassed (lawn) area and sowing
mixed wildflower seeds and it was a notable failure despite carefully
tending the seeded patch. Last year I removed patches of turf and
planted perennial plugs and annual/perennial seeds and had a success. I
have now removed the turf from about 10 sq metres of ground and am
contemplating converting a further 20+ sq metres. The only thing that
has been deterring me is the effort involved in removing the turf (just
using a spade is hard work) however I have discovered that there are
turf removal machines available to hire so progress is now much more
likely.

Landlife indicate the perennial seeds may be sown in either autumn or
spring.
http://www.wildflower.org.uk/departm...g_instructions
I will be sowing in the next 10 days and reviewing the situation in
March/April to see if a top-up is necessary.
--
Robert