Looking for a way to add a pop of color to your low water usage landscape? Try planting native wildflowers. Even though wildflowers are easy to grow, there are a few tricks to assure growing success. Pick the wildflower mix that is best suited for sun exposure. Don’t be fooled by folks selling wild flower soil or fertilizer. Wild flowers don’t need fertile soil. To get started prepare your planting area by killing all the weeds and vegetation. Turn the soil two to three inches deep. Water the area lightly and wait a week to see if any others seeds germinate. If they do, kill them also. This step can be repeated as many times as you think you need.
Now comes the planting. Rough up the area and sow the seeds. If you have a large area to plant, mix the seeds with a carrier. Sand works very well. Here comes the tricky part, cover the seeds to a depth of no more than ¼ inch. Rolling is recommended for large areas of over 500 sf. Lightly water once a day until most of the seeds germinate (2 to 3 weeks).
Personal experience: I had a two year old cedar mulch covered bed I wanted to seed with wildflowers. I raked away the mulch, spread the seeds, and raked the mulch back. Next I watered the bed as directed for about four days. In another ten days the wildflowers were growing up through the mulch.