Native Plants

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A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

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Tuesday - December 10, 2013

From: Riverside, CA
Region: California
Topic: Planting, Seeds and Seeding, Wildflowers
Title: When to plant wildflowers in California
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

When is the best time to plant wildflowers in California?

ANSWER:

First of all, it depends on where you intend to plant the wildflower seeds. If you are planting in rather small area like a flower bed where you can control the moisture, you can plant them from the fall to the late spring or early summer. If you are sowing them in a field or meadow where they will be dependent on rainfall, then it is best to plant them in the fall when wildflowers would generally be dropping their seeds in the wild. If you are planting a large area in wildflowers, please read our How to Article, Meadow Gardening. There are other How to Articles under the topic of Large Scale Wildflower Planting that you also might find helpful.

There are a couple of articles with information specific to planting wildflowers in California:

Planting Instructions for California Wildflowers from the Sacramento Regional County Sanitation District.
California Wildflowers from Las Pilitas Nursery (with locations in Santa Margarita and Escondido).

The Riverside/San Bernardino Chapter of the California Native Plant Society has Links that you might find useful.