Florida Wildflower Garden

Are you planning  native wildflower garden this year? If your garden design is calling for more than a couple of containers or a small patch, then you will love these tips straight from an expert, Jeff Norcini (OecoHort, LLC), a contractor for  the FloridaWildflower Foundation.  

First of all, says Jeff, choose a site that has a good chance of being successful. Your wildflower garden needs to be in a place that:

• is free from established populations of weeds like nut-sedge and torpedo grass
• gets plenty of sunlight, at least 6 hours, mid morning to afternoon is best and,
• is well drained

Jeff Norcini

 Weeds are the number one downfall of wildflower gardens!

So start with an  area that has few to no weeds: advance planning is critical. You can kill your turfgrass by smothering it, and then plant into the decomposing matter. Jeff is very definite about the DO NOT TILL mantra. Tilling just brings more weed seeds to the surface where they can germinate and drive you crazy. Hundreds to thousands of weed seeds per square foot, in case you wanted to know.

If you have bravely decided to go with direct-seeding in your new area, here some tips to help with the germination of the new seedlings, and also with your ability to  recognize them:

• if you start with nice, friable soil, firm the bed floor by walking on it, or even rolling it
• avoid bare soil; cover the bed sparsely with very thin layer of pine straw
• plant a few seeds in an X pattern (so you can monitor germination)

Maplestreet Natives

A reasonable size to start with is an area about six feet by six feet. This will allow you to choose a palette of about three to five plants each of three to five different flowers plus a few bunch grasses. The bunch grasses add a bit of structure to the area and some continuity as the flowers go through their bloom-to-seeds cycle.

 Purpletop Tridens

 Jeff mentioned one bunch grass he is liking that I was not familiar with, and perhaps you aren’t either; it’s called Purpletop tridens, Tridens flavus. He describes this as having a mass of vegetative growth below with the wispy, deep, reddish purple infloresences floating high above it. While this grass does not look like much along roadsides, in the home garden it is quite lovely, and it is ranked as high as muhly grass for ease of growth. Jeff notes that if you are planning to have a meadow-type of planting, with a mixture of flowers, or flowers and grasses, then be prepared for a certain amount of change from year to year. You have to expect them to move around a bit within their spot. That's part of the fun.

If you'd like more information, there is  a detailed planning and planting guide in the 2010 edition of the “The Real Florida Gardener,” produced by the AFNN(Association of Florida Native Nurseries) and available online at  http://magazinevolume.com/6521CD

A word about Jeff Norcini

 Jeff starting working with native wildflowers and grasses back in 1996 while a faculty member with the University of Florida/IFAS at the North Florida Research and Education Center.  He is very grateful to Andy Clewell,  Jim Marois, and Gary Henry for their support and encouragement when he  made this major change in his program.  He tells me he thoroughly enjoys promoting the use and production of native wildflowers and grasses.  

We're so glad he loves to help other people with growing their knowledge, too! Thanks, Jeff!

If you're doing some planning/planting this spring, take some photos to share with us here. Send them in to our email at FNPSonline@gmail.com 

Look back to see what Jeff recommended for starting your seeds in "Grow Your Own Wildflowers"

sue dingwell