Wildflower seed question

Hi,

I was lucky enough to be gifted with some native wildflower seeds by a generous DG'er, who lives in NC, and thought they were better suited to a CA garden. I'm excited about planting them as these are natives that I've admired & have on my "want" list. The mix contains:

Clarkia amoena, (Farewell-to-Spring)
Clarkia unguiculata, (Elegant Clarkia Mixed Double)
Eschscholzia californica, (California Poppy)
Eschscholzia californica maritima, (Golden West Poppy)
Gilia capitata, (Globe Gilia)
Lasthenia californica, (Goldfields)
Layia platyglossa, (Tidy Tips)
Lupinus succulentus, (Arroyo Lupine)
Phacelia campanularia, (Desert Blue Bells)
Phacelia tanacetifolia, (Tansy leaf Phacelia)

I'm looking for some guidance about planting them. I'm assuming they will fit into my newly planted xeriscape garden, which consists (mostly) of ornamental grasses, penstemon, agastache & salvia. Can I plant them this time of year or should I wait until next fall? And assuming we don't have rain, how often would I need to water them? Can I just mix them w/ sand or dirt & broadcast them into the garden or do I need to bury them? Any other words or wisdom would be most welcome...

Thanks!

Liz

Are these seed all mixed up together or separate? A lot of your seed, especially the poppy can be direct sowed right now.
The plant files have good information on what to plant when. Another source of great information for you might be the cottage gardening forum. Great people. Always have answers or know where to find them.
I haven't tried the Farewell to Spring, but they do well under the Redwoods.
I'm real curious myself because I rec'd some of the same seed as you did in trade.
What say you my fellow DG'ers. What works best for our Zone?
Walk In Beauty!
SingingWolf

I've never grown any of the others from seed, but Clarkia amoena came up very easily for me when I tried it 3 or 4 years ago--I sprinkled it on the ground and tamped it down a bit and let it go. I can't remember what time of year I sowed it but I think it was right around now, give or take a month.

Thanks Singing Wolf & ecrane for responding! Yes, the seeds are a mixture. It makes intuitive sense to me, that if they self sow, they probably can be on the surface. But I don't have a great deal of experience with seeds. Another factor, I forgot to mention, is that I have a gorilla hair type mulch on the soil... I'm hoping that I don't need to move it & that the rain/water will wash the seeds down into the soil... but that may be optimism born from laziness. I will try posting on the cottage thread. Thanks for the suggestion.

Liz

I hope it helps. Especially with a mixture like that. They are a great bunch of people at the Cottage Thread, I'm sure someone will know the best place for the mix.
WIB,
SW

The mulch may be a problem--if it's on there thick enough that it's doing a good job of preventing weed seeds that land on it from coming up then it'll have the same effect on your desirable seeds. But if it's a thinner layer and it's not really stopping the weeds then chances are the plants will come up OK too, maybe just not quite as many will germinate as if the ground was bare.

ecrane, I should have known you'd have a good answer. I wanted to know too, so I was glad when lizzipa asked the question. This reconfirms where my cottage garden is going this spring!
Thanks!
WIB,
SW

I put a lot out myself just before the big rains we had and I sure hope they take. The birds probably didn't have a chance to get them!

Lizzipa, have you seen the threads about our RoundUp next month? Please come if you can. We need another dessert! LOL! Seriously, we love to have new people come. We chat, EAT, and there might be a few plants and/or seed to be shared. This is my first time hosting one.

There are three threads at the top of this forum thread list: one for food, one for plants, and one for general info. I will be sending out directions to our place soon, but basically we are in Bonsall, off the 76 east of Oceanside.

Hope to see you there!

KaperC,

Thanks for the invite to the RoundUp... wish I could come, but I live in Northern CA - about 20 miles south of San Francisco, so it would be a loooong drive to your area!

Hope your seeds grow like crazy!

Liz

Oh, Heck! We have an Emerald Hills down here, too.

Hey Liz, I had a seed mix with several of those species that I threw on a newly remodeled part of the yard in the spring and they grew very nicely. I didn't have any mulch down yet when I scattered the seeds. Maybe you can scatter on top of the mulch and fluff it with a rake to shake the seeds down onto the soil. It was interesting how different species grew in different spots, even though the amount of shade and water was almost the same across the area.

Katlian, That sounds like a good plan. I'll probably do that today to take advantage of the next rain coming in tommorow. Thanks!

I don't know about your area but here I can sometimes have problems with slugs eating my seedlings that were direct sown, but because they are wildflower seeds this might not be a problem. good luck it sounds like a wonderful mix. If you have luck with the lupin let us know I have wanted wild lupin in my garden for ever.