by Bill Schaeffer
1) In the late Winter, or
early Springtime, choose the spot where you would like to have flowers. There must be some minimal dirt and
sunlight. Generally, the more sunlight
the better. Wild flowers are hardy and
they can take the sunlight if they have enough water. You might have a small flower pot, a patch
of dirt between sidewalks, or some bare dirt in the corner of the yard. Anywhere is fine, as long as there is some
direct sun.
2) Buy some seed packs of
mixed wild flowers. Buy about four
times the recommended amount of seeds for the area. Buy a few different packs by different
manufacturers. Buy seeds of local wild
flowers.
3) You can plant the seeds
anytime you like, but for best results:
Choose a day when it is not supposed to rain for a couple days. Clear the area of debris and plants. Add some black dirt topsoil if you
like. Remove the stones if you
like. Wait till late afternoon and
broadcast the seeds (scatter the seeds evenly over the dirt, by gently flipping
them out of the palm of your hand).
Interesting note: the radio term “broadcast” was coined in WWI by a
sailor who grew up on a farm. As a boy,
his chores included feeding chickens by broadcasting seed. As a radio operator he used the term and it
stuck.
4) Gently water the seeds. Just water enough to barely wet the
soil. Touch the soil to judge the
moisture. It should feel moist and not
muddy. Do not water too much. Do not soak the dirt. Never over water. It is always better to water too little.
5) Check the flowers every
day, or at least five days a week.
Touch the soil to see how moist it is.
If it is dry and cracked, the flowers need water. If it is dry and dusty, the flowers need
water. If the soil is slightly moist
and clinging, the flowers are just fine - do not water. If the dirt is muddy, or soupy, there is too
much water. If you need to water the
flowers, just sprinkle the dirt with water.
Just barely soak the soil and then stop.
6) You might want to weed
isolated blades of grass and wide broad leaf plants (pull the plants out by the
roots and destroy them), but generally you should leave the flowers alone and
just water them when the dirt is very dry.
Check the dirt every day.
7) Wait, relax, enjoy. Watch the life cycles of different
plants. Watch the bees and butterflies
that are attracted to the flowers.
Look at the other insects enjoying the plants.
8) Try to not pick the
flowers or arrange them. Leave the
plants to flower naturally and only cut the dry dead flowers from the living
plants to give energy to the remaining flowers. Interesting note: According to Charles Alexander Eastman, in
the book “Soul of an Indian,” the original Native Americans never picked
flowers for decoration. For
celebrations, they used boughs, or wreaths, of green leaves, but never
flowers. They left the flowers to bloom
naturally on the plants.
~
Copyright (c)2008, 2014
William Schaeffer
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