My garden club is adopting a big chunk of the HWY rigth-away to start a wildflower/BF garden. I'm collecting as much as I can in my yard and along the road-sides but we're still going to be way shy seed to do about a 3-4 thousand square ft we hope to start out with. We plan on purchasing what seeds we can but still can use some help with more seed.
If you have a surplus of native BF-hummingbird-bird and other wildlife seeds we sure could use some. I can swap from my seed swap list our we can pay postage.
Area will be dry in the heat of summer. We haven't walked or measured the area yet but it a pretty safe bet the soil in poor. I ahve a list of seeds recommended by states native wildflower spokes person. Rather long but I can post it but it leaves off a LOT of plants and flowers....especially late bloomers.
Thanks,
Peggy
Garden Club project
Is this highway right of way inside the mowing zone next to the road? If it is, how can you prevent the plants being mowed down?
we talked to rep from state and they're on board with the project and have alloted us about a quarter acre 15-20 ft back from edge of HWY(that part has to be kept mowed) and will not mow it as long as it's blooming and we keep it looking good(pulling up tree seedlings,litter,etc)
Be sure to install signs mentioning no mowing...and remind the local highway maintenance people. I've heard about word not reaching all the mowing people when it comes to such highway and park projects...that can be very discouraging. I'll see what I can come up with on seeds and contact you later on.
What a wonderful project to be involved with. I want to thank you for your efforts to beautify your local highways. I much prefer to see wildflowers blooming along the highways than mowed stretches of grass/weeds.
One plant I'm trying in North Little Rock is Ice plant. If you could get some starts of that or an area seeded, that is reported to bloom over a long period of time and is drought resistant and likes the sun. It is low growing and spreads on it's own to form a low lying mat. California uses it a lot (or used to) on their highway right of ways, no doubt because it is drought resistant.
Here is a link to an explanation of the ice plant, if it is unknown to you.
http://www.outsidepride.com/catalog/Ice-Plant-Groundcover-Seed-p-16415.html
Creeping Thyme would be another good plant to try and get started as it spreads easily once established and is fairly drought resistant.
http://www.outsidepride.com/catalog/Creeping-Thyme-Groundcover-Seed-p-16548.html
California Poppy's would be another good wildflower to try and get going. It reseeds itself and would provide very early color.
Please keep us updated on your selections and progress.
Mary
The state will put up signs saying that part has been adopted by our club so that should keep the mowers off it.
Ihave the ice plant and thyme but I don't think it would be seen from a moving car and the area isn't in a location you could easily get out to walk. Area is at the corner of a busy HWY and new loop to local sportsman lake(and other small townes) so everything will ahve to be fairly tall to be seen from HWY and thur the native grasses.
List of recommended flowers:
Asclepias tuberosa
aster novae-angelica
centaurea cyanes
chrysanthemum leucanthemum
cichorium intybus
coreopsis:
c.lanceolata
c.tinctoris
Cosmos bipinnatus
c. sulphoreus(sp?)
delphinium ajacis
Eschscholzia calif.
Euphorbia margenata
Gillardia aristata
Gaillardia pulchella
helianthus annus
gypsophila elegans
hesparis matronalis
ipomopsis rubra
linum perenne
monarda citrirodora
nemophila
oenothera elata
o.hookeri
o.macrocarpus missouriensis
o.speciosa
papaver rhoeas
phlox drummondii
ratibida columnifera
r.pinnata
rudbeckia amplexicaulis
r.hirta
salvia azurea
s.coccinea
I/m collecting from my yard:
A mix of echinaceas that will include e.paradoxa ,e.pallida and e.tenn.
native white yarrow(a.mill..?can't spell it off the top of my head)
LOTS of rudbeckia hirta and r.maxima
penstemons
and others as I find them
I'll be watching the roadsides for others as they bloom set seed to mark for the club to go back and gather once they're ready.In Ark. you can collect seeds from roadside but you can not dig plants up.We had a lady out from Little Rock earilier in the year to look at the area and advise us. She suppose to be collecting seeds from their greenhouses to send us but I don't know what she'll be sending.
We're not allowed to plant anything woody..i.e: trees and shrubs because state doesn't want to mow around them.
I can tell you that the Gaillardia should do just fine. They grow naturally alongside the interstates here in Florida and if they can take the heat and drought here, I'm sure they'll be fine where you are. About a mile down my street it passes over the interstate and the guy who lives on the corner threw down a bunch of phlox and gaillardia seeds. They come back every year. I know whenever I travel through the Carolinas they do an awesome job of growing wildflowers in their medians. I'm pretty sure I've seen echinacea there as well as poppies. Your community is lucky to have you brightening up the area!
Melanie
I generally toss out my older seeds onto the roadsides to see what will actually come up. I threw out a lot last year in sn open area in front of my friend's house. I haven't checked to see if anything came up this year.Hoping for a nice meadow out there.
if you think tropical milkweed will grow,I have loads of seeds. tell me your address and I'll mail you a bunch.
RUTH Orlando FL
Thanks for the offer Ruth. Tropical milkweed needs to be started in a GH. My experience with them(self-sewn)is that they barely make it to bloom them get knock down by frost.It's a large area and we are doing seeds we can sew in the fall for the next years blooms.