Native Plants

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Wednesday - July 22, 2015

From: Little Rock, AR
Region: Southeast
Topic: Planting, Wildflowers
Title: Wildflower planting times for Little Rock, AR
Answered by: Larry Larson

QUESTION:

When is the best time to plant wildflowers in Little Rock,Ar

ANSWER:

This Mr Smarty Plants expects that the schedule for Wildflower planting is the one they follow themselves in nature. Plants flower, ripen and distribute their seeds in late spring to summer. Those seeds germinate over the winter and are poised to grow vigorously in the late winter to early spring to produce flowers just in time to start the whole cycle again. So, feel free to plant your wildflowers. But don’t expect any flowers until next Spring.

Here’s a good way to find some suggestions. Here is a link to the Special Collection for Arkansas. These lists can be sorted for several attributes. If you select “Herb” – this tends to return Wildflowers. That returned 51 plants. Here’s a few attractive choices, optimal planting would be a month or two after it blooms:

Echinacea purpurea (Eastern purple coneflower) – Blooms April to September

Asclepias tuberosa (Butterflyweed) – Blooms May to September

Castilleja coccinea (Scarlet paintbrush) – Blooms May to July

Callirhoe digitata (Finger poppy-mallow) – Blooms May to August

Gaillardia pulchella (Firewheel) – Blooms May to August

Lobelia cardinalis (Cardinal flower) – Blooms May to October

Rudbeckia hirta (Black-eyed susan) – Blooms June to October

Helianthus maximiliani (Maximilian sunflower) – August to November