Create a Wildflower Garden Habitat
A wildflower garden conjures mixed messages on paper.
After all, wild flowers are, well...
wild, aren't they? And gardens are well, cultivated.
So what is a wild flower garden? In my view, it is simply bringing the delights of the wild places to a more convenient location.
A yard where you can enjoy the native flowers and the environment they create without having to ration your enjoyment.
And a bit like the animal welfare attitude - a chance to preserve species which may be endangered in their natural habitat.
The trouble is, many people have difficulty creating such a garden.
What they lack is not luck, but understanding.
Wild flowers are like people, and each has its preferences as well as personality.
Native plants, like people, get accustomed to what's around them in nature and they feel comfortable - hence thrive - in that environment.
So accustomed, in fact, that when removed from its preferred living conditions, wildflowers sicken and die.
That should be more than enough to tell us that we should consider copying nature herself.
If you buy wildflower seeds from specialist suppliers, the packet usually describes in some detail just what sort of climate or micro climate the particular native plant prefers.
If you are hunting wild flowers in the woods (careful - it is not permitted in some jurisdictions), notice the soil they are in, the place, the surroundings, conditions, and the neighbours.
Suppose you find wind-flowers growing near dog-tooth violets.
Select them both and place them in a similar relationship in your own new garden.
Suppose you find a certain Acanthaceae enjoying rich, moist woods; then it should have the same conditions where you plant it at home.
Mimic nature and the ecosystem and you'll have the plants almost believing that they are still in their native habitat.
Wild flowers ought to be transplanted after blossoming.
Use a trowel to take up a few, a Campanulaceae, or a Malvaceae, and be sure to take with the roots some of the plant's own soil.
When you replant, make sure it is into some of its own transplanted soil.
Prepare the bed carefully before you leave on your gathering trip.
There's little worse than to bring plants back and make them wait over a day or night before planting.
They should go into their new bed at once.
The bed needs soil from the woods, deep and rich and full of leaf mold.
The drainage should be excellent - please avoid transplanting your plants into water-logged ground.
Some people think that all native plants need saturated soil, but the woods are not generally water-logged.
It may be that you will need to dig your garden very deeply and put in some stone before backfilling with top soil and topping that with a new layer of the rich soil you brought from the woods.
Water it well, and place your new plants in the soil they know.
If your climate allows, it's a wonderful idea to stage your wild-flower garden so that it gives a succession of blooms from early spring to late fall.
After all, wild flowers are, well...
wild, aren't they? And gardens are well, cultivated.
So what is a wild flower garden? In my view, it is simply bringing the delights of the wild places to a more convenient location.
A yard where you can enjoy the native flowers and the environment they create without having to ration your enjoyment.
And a bit like the animal welfare attitude - a chance to preserve species which may be endangered in their natural habitat.
The trouble is, many people have difficulty creating such a garden.
What they lack is not luck, but understanding.
Wild flowers are like people, and each has its preferences as well as personality.
Native plants, like people, get accustomed to what's around them in nature and they feel comfortable - hence thrive - in that environment.
So accustomed, in fact, that when removed from its preferred living conditions, wildflowers sicken and die.
That should be more than enough to tell us that we should consider copying nature herself.
If you buy wildflower seeds from specialist suppliers, the packet usually describes in some detail just what sort of climate or micro climate the particular native plant prefers.
If you are hunting wild flowers in the woods (careful - it is not permitted in some jurisdictions), notice the soil they are in, the place, the surroundings, conditions, and the neighbours.
Suppose you find wind-flowers growing near dog-tooth violets.
Select them both and place them in a similar relationship in your own new garden.
Suppose you find a certain Acanthaceae enjoying rich, moist woods; then it should have the same conditions where you plant it at home.
Mimic nature and the ecosystem and you'll have the plants almost believing that they are still in their native habitat.
Wild flowers ought to be transplanted after blossoming.
Use a trowel to take up a few, a Campanulaceae, or a Malvaceae, and be sure to take with the roots some of the plant's own soil.
When you replant, make sure it is into some of its own transplanted soil.
Prepare the bed carefully before you leave on your gathering trip.
There's little worse than to bring plants back and make them wait over a day or night before planting.
They should go into their new bed at once.
The bed needs soil from the woods, deep and rich and full of leaf mold.
The drainage should be excellent - please avoid transplanting your plants into water-logged ground.
Some people think that all native plants need saturated soil, but the woods are not generally water-logged.
It may be that you will need to dig your garden very deeply and put in some stone before backfilling with top soil and topping that with a new layer of the rich soil you brought from the woods.
Water it well, and place your new plants in the soil they know.
If your climate allows, it's a wonderful idea to stage your wild-flower garden so that it gives a succession of blooms from early spring to late fall.
