It wasn’t a field when we bought the house in Massachusetts, but that’s what it ended up being. At first, there were massive junipers that lined the circular driveway—a presumed early attempt at formalism that had grown gargantuan due to neglect and caused frequent ice dams on our northern-facing roof by blocking out the sun. Once they were gone, it was just a barren plain, and the nakedness created by the newfound sunlight made us do what most young, dumb homeowners do: panic-buy a tree. We placed a three-inch caliper London plane slightly off-center in the giant green oval of lawn just to add some form of life, even if it was entirely too close to the house. By the time we actually knew what we wanted to do with the space, the tree had just settled into place. So, of course, we uprooted it again to its final home on the western edge of the property, and we had the clean slate we were finally ready for.
I’m not a big fan of the term “rewilding,” not because I don’t believe in the cause, but because I don’t think that’s what’s actually being done. If I were actually doing that here, I’d let it return to woodland. Still, it’s the best term we’ve got, so it’s what we’ll use for the sake of this story. About five years ago, we lined its central axis with an allée of crabapples (Malus ‘Indian Summer’), mowed formal paths, sowed perennial seed, and got to work rewilding. While it’s still nowhere near where I’d like it to be, there are several lessons I’ve learned throughout the process.
Photography by Nick Spain.
Rewilding is still gardening.
Above: A rewilded landscape still needs maintenance.
I’m fortunate that most of my garden clients are curious about and open to letting some part of their property go more natural, because it will also be easier to maintain. I’m quick to tell them, however, that low maintenance doesn’t mean no maintenance. Regardless of how you go about it, whether that’s sowing seed on freshly turned earth, utilizing plugs, planting containerized plants, or some combination of all three, you will have to get your hands dirty and manage whatever you’ve installed. I find the real joy comes from the gardening style being more laissez-faire—whether that’s haphazardly slinging around lupine heads in July so they will create more stands in coming years, or knowing that I don’t have to get every single last strand of vetch out each time I weed since there are plenty of other plants it will have to compete with.
The notoriety of Papaver somniferum, the “sleep-inducing poppy,” is only partly to do with its outlaw family.
Opium poppies are grown for their edible seeds and for pharmaceutical uses. The type that you see in gardens—whether your own or in the medicinal section of a botanic garden—is the legal relation, not toxic enough to be useful to anyone. The subversive beauty of P. somniferum is firmly rooted in its fabulous color and texture, and the way it can turn a vegetable patch into a Dutch painting.
Above: Self-seeded opium poppy that has not been weeded out of a fennel, in my garden.
More correctly but prosaically called “breadseed poppy,” Papaver somniferum is an unknown quantity when in bud. A couple of nearby seeds may result in shades of profound magenta and desirable pink, like the wild opium poppies in our vegetable garden, at the top of this page. On the other hand, they could germinate into the tawdriest hues of clapped-out mauve, in which case you are perfectly within your rights to pull them out.
Above: Double varieties of black opium poppy include Papaver somniferum ‘Black Beauty’ and ‘Black Peony’.
This is the great thing about self-seeding plants: If you edit them, they look purposeful. If you don’t, then they are weeds, run amok. Opium poppies grow well with other poppies, seen here, above, at the Oxford Botanic Garden, in the medicinal plant beds. But it’s more fun to allow them to pop up wherever they like. In soil that is rich, like a vegetable garden, they will grow stout and tall, with handsome glaucous foliage and green-gray seed heads on strong stalks.
Above: Single deep black opium poppies at Oxford Botanic Garden.
There are many reasons to visit South Africa, but for anyone whose heart beats faster for flowers, there is this hint: Take a deep breath, exhale slowly, and book a trip any time from late August through September, when the summer-dry expanses of the West Coast region and its hinterland erupt in spring’s wildflowers after soaking winter rains.
Because of the staggering diversity of floral displays spread across the country’s Western and Northern Cape provinces, the choices of destinations can be overwhelming. The tiny town of Darling in the Western Cape, just an hour’s drive north of Cape Town, is at once accessible, hospitable, and bursting with a variety botanical hotspots. Waylands Wildflower Reserve is just one of them.
Above: Wild arum lilies—Zantedeschia aethiopica— at Waylands Wildflower Reserve, near Darling.
Waylands Wildflower Reserve, about three miles southeast of Darling, is one of several local reserves open to visitors during peak wildflower season. Last September I visited with my evolutionary-biologist friend, Jacqueline Bishop, who loves flowers as much as I do, but who knows more about them as well as the creatures with which they co-exist. (It’s like walking with Google, except more fun.) Our destination that day was the town itself, and the Darling Wildflower Show, held annually over the third weekend of September. But at Waylands we became side-tracked, in the best possible way.
Above: A flock of Lachenalias. Above: Heliophila africana tilting on slender stems. Above: Shaggy monkey beetles are important pollinators of spring’s ephemeral wildflowers. Above: Geissorhiza radians.
Created in 1922 by Frederick Duckitt, Waylands is one of the oldest wildflower reserves in South Africa. This pocket of critically endangered Renosterveld remains on land farmed by the Duckitt family since 1865. (Closer to town vast greenhouses accommodate their orchid business, which exports exotic orchids globally. It is open to the public during this weekend, and we were sustained there by some very good pannekoek, crêpe-like pancakes filled with cinnamon and sugar and served with lemon.)
Above: Common butterfly lily—Wachendorfia paniculata—thrives after fire.
Over 300 species of wildflowers have been recorded at Waylands, whose farming methods help conserve one of the most threatened habitats in the Cape Floristic Region (which is smallest of the world’s six plant kingdoms, but the mightiest in terms of diversity). Grassfed cattle and sheep are allowed to graze here after the flowers have set seed, from November—early summer—to the end of April before the wet, Mediterranean winter sets in. This ancient seasonal grazing strategy, predating colonial history, allows these hoofed animals to actively spread seed, and to turn bulbs. And every four to seven years, intentional fires are set in autumn, ahead of rain, to help regenerate plants that thrive after fire.
There are many reasons to visit South Africa, but for anyone whose heart beats faster for flowers, there is this hint: Take a deep breath, exhale slowly, and book a trip any time from August through September, when the summer-dry expanses of the West Coast region and its hinterland erupt in spring’s wildflowers after soaking winter rains.
Because of the staggering diversity of floral displays spread across the country’s Western and Northern Cape provinces, the choices of destinations can be overwhelming. The tiny town of Darling in the Western Cape, just an hour’s drive north of Cape Town, is at once accessible, hospitable, and bursting with a variety botanical hotspots. Waylands Wildflower Reserve is just one of them.
Above: Wild arum lilies—Zantedeschia aethiopica— at Waylands Wildflower Reserve, near Darling.
Waylands Wildflower Reserve, about three miles southeast of Darling, is one of several local reserves open to visitors during peak wildflower season. Last September I visited with my evolutionary-biologist friend, Jacqueline Bishop, who loves flowers as much as I do, but who knows more about them as well as the creatures with which they co-exist. (It’s like walking with Google, except more fun.) Our destination that day was the town itself, and the Darling Wildflower Show, held annually over the third weekend of September. But at Waylands we became side-tracked, in the best possible way.
Above: A flock of Lachenalias. Above: Heliophila africana tilting on slender stems. Above: Shaggy monkey beetles are important pollinators of spring’s ephemeral wildflowers. Above: Geissorhiza radians.
Created in 1922 by Frederick Duckitt, Waylands is one of the oldest wildflower reserves in South Africa. This pocket of critically endangered Renosterveld remains on land farmed by the Duckitt family since 1865. (Closer to town vast greenhouses accommodate their orchid business, which exports exotic orchids to Europe and the East Coast of the US. It is open to the public during this weekend, and we were sustained there by some very good pancakes, filled with cinnamon and sugar and served with lemon.)
Above: Common butterfly lily—Wachendorfia paniculata—thrives after fire.
Over 300 species of wildflowers have been recorded at Waylands, whose farming methods help conserve one of the most threatened habitats in the Cape Floristic Region (which is smallest of the world’s six plant kingdoms, but the mightiest in terms of diversity). Grassfed cattle and sheep are allowed to graze here after the flowers have set seed, from November—early summer—to the end of April before the wet, Mediterranean winter sets in. This ancient seasonal grazing strategy, predating colonial history, allows these hoofed animals to actively spread seed, and to turn bulbs. And every four to seven years, intentional fires are set in autumn, ahead of rain, to help regenerate plants that thrive after fire.
This is part of a series withPerfect Earth Project, a nonprofit dedicated to toxic-free, ecological gardening, on how you can be more sustainable in your landscapes at home.
“What does aesthetics have to do with ecology?” asks Joan Nassauer. Turns out a lot. A professor of landscape architecture at the University of Michigan, Nassauer has been studying how to make ecological gardens more acceptable and accessible. Several decades ago, she coined the phrase “cues to care,”which has now become a catch phrase among ecological gardeners. (Read her paper “Messy Ecosystems, Orderly Frames” and a recent review paper “Cues to Care: A Systematic Analytical Review”.)
Cues to care are the key indicators that a landscape is intentional and being looked after. Think: mown turf; visible, unimpeded windows; and prominent, recognizable flowers. Most people find these things comforting. “We want to affect human-dominated landscapes to protect and increase biodiversity, increase their capacity to store carbon, and ensure human comfort with rising temperatures,” says Nassauer. But the key to acceptance and success lies with our ability to “create landscapes people are happy to inhabit.”
The size of your property does not matter. Every bit of land can make a difference. “The 1/4 acre or even 1/8 acre is in some ways the most important, because from the standpoint of a seed, or a pollinator passing by, or a migrating bird being able to stop and rest, these small pieces all contribute to a larger matrix that is the functioning landscape,” says Nassauer.
As more people learn about the dangers of conventional landscaping with its toxic lawns and “ultra-processed plantings,” as Perfect Earth founder Edwina von Gal calls them, they’re discovering the benefits of a healthier, looser, chemical-free approach, where lawns are diminished, native plants replace unsustainable ones and are allowed to grow freely, and dead trees or snags are celebrated as sculpture. Cues to care become an important bridge linking the wildness of nature with the intentional. Nassuer notes that cues to care are “not universal, but culturally contingent.” Experiment on your own property, talk about them with your neighbors, and take some cues from these ecological designers who share with us how they show they care.
Incorporate straight lines and right angles.
Above: In her garden on Eastern Long Island, von Gal created geometric beds and filled them with an array of native plants that she lets grow freely with wild abundance. Photograph courtesy of Perfect Earth Project.
Strike one: a house in need of a major renovation. Strike two: a garden in need of love. Strike three: a remodel that left the surrounding landscape decimated. Such were the conditions that Emilia and Anna DeMauro, the sisters behind DeMauro + DeMauro Landscape Design & Gardens, encoutered when they first met with their client in North Haven, a hamlet north of Sag Harbor, New York. “When we came on the property, it was essentially a construction site,” remembers Emilia. “It really was just exposed earth—just dirt. And further back it was so overgrown in some areas it was difficult to even walk.”
With a main house, a barn, a pool and a pool house, the two-acre property was not quite a blank canvas. There were also mature oaks dotted across the property, which abuts both woodland and wetland. In addition to repopulating the landscape with native plants, the client, an avid cook and gardener, hoped to add vegetable and cut flower beds (she also wanted to keep the peach trees planted by the previous owner). Last, the client wanted to highlight several sculptures by her late husband.
To tackle the large project, the DeMauro sisters created distinct gardens within the property, including two pollinator gravel gardens close to the house, a wildflower meadow near the wetland, grassy meadows on either side of the driveway, three cut flower beds, and fourteen vegetable beds—plus, on-site composting and even a chicken run.
Take a tour of the revived and diverse bayside landscape:
Photography by Doug Young, courtesy of DeMauro + DeMauro.
Before
Above: Before the landscape redesign, the land surrounding the house was nothing but compacted, post-construction dirt. Anna saw the sunny spots between the two house wings as the perfect opportunity to create a dry gravel garden inspired by Beth Chatto’s celebrated garden in Essex.
After
Above: Two years after DeMauro + DeMauro’s installation, the pollinator gravel gardens are coming into their own.
The longer I garden, the more I want to grow perennials that bloom for as long as possible, and that ask for as little as possible in return. Within reason. While Agastache has long been at the top of my list of summer-to-fall-flowering, pollinator-supporting native perennials, a Scutellaria species is beginning to nip at its heels: Again and again I have seen the showy, blue, distinctively hooded flowers of downy skullcap—Scutellaria incana—standing tall in perennial borders and in wild planting that enjoy little regular maintenance. The plant is compelling.
Above: Downy skullcap flowering in a dry July in part shade in an unirrigated border.
Also known commonly as hoary skullcap, Scutellaria incana is a native North American plant that checks the following boxes: It blooms for many weeks—even months—in late summer; it flowers in full sun as well as in shade; it attracts and supports pollinators and hummingbirds; it withstands periods of drought; and it is genuinely attractive, with myriad cerulean flowers.
Above: Deadheading downy skullcap’s spent racemes of flowers encourages new growth and a new flush of blooms.
Downy skullcap is a tall perennial, averaging around three feet. It begins to flower in late summer, and continues to bloom for many weeks. If it is deadheaded, those weeks extend to months. It is very effective in meadows or wild-at-heart borders combined with bee balms and milkweed, rudbeckias, helianthus and helenium, echinacea, obedient plant, agastache, and goldenrod.
Above: Downy skullcap is native to central and eastern US.
Cheat Sheet
There are hundreds of species of Scutellaria, worldwide.
Downy skullcap is a wildflower native to the central and eastern United States.
Scutellaria belong to the Lamiaceae (mint) family.
The square stems of downy skullcap (Scutellaria incana) are finely hairy.
Several species of Scutellaria are valued for their use in Traditional Chinese Medicine, as well as Native American and other folk medicines.
While the flowers of downy skullcap are attractive to pollinators and hummingbirds, the bitter foliage is (usually!) deer-resistant.
Above: The plant grows to about 3 feet tall.
Keep It Alive
Downy skullcap is hardy from USDA zones 5 to 8.
Plant it in full sun, semi-shade, or high shade.
It is tolerant of a wide range of soils, except those that remain waterlogged.
Deadhead after its first flush of blooms to encourage fresh growth and second flush.
When August melts into September, nights are suddenly noticeably longer, while flowering perennials seem to grow wilder, to compensate. One of the greatest gardening pleasures of this cusp-season is the effusion of a tousled collection of native plants whose flowers are the languid counterpoint to spring’s cheerful bursts of blossoms. If we must have winter, then these sultry blooms are a fitting way to celebrate the dying of the light. Here are 11 native perennials for late summer and fall.
Above: Anise hyssop (with foreground of skullcap), blooms for months, into fall.
Of all the native perennials that bloom late into the year, if I had to choose just one to provide summer-to-fall flowers, it would be Agastache foeniculum and its various cultivars. Tall in stature, with licorice or mint-scented leaves, and profuse little blue flowers, these sun-loving hyssops provide height and bulk and filler, all at the same time. They are also elegantly lanky, and are a day-long buffet for bees, other pollinators, and even hummingbirds. If you can bear it, grit your teeth and cut the waning flowers back in late summer for a late fall resurgence; and leave those flowers to set seed for seed-eating birds like goldfinches.
Asters (Symphyotrichum pilosum, S. ericoides, and others)
Above: Airy white asters sparkle in early fall landscapes.
No late summer garden seems complete without asters—low-maintenance and long-blooming. Heath aster (Symphyotrichum ericoides, above) likes full sun and is hardy from zones 3 to 10. Hairy aster (S. pilosum) can handle more shade and likes moist soil. It is hardy from zones 4 to 8. For woodland gardens, choose wood aster (Eurybia divaricata).
Flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollata)
Above: Flowering spurge is a native Euphorbia.
Clump-forming flowering spurge is one of the native perennials that seems to fly under the horticultural radar. Also known as the baby’s breath of the prairie, it has a loose, breezy habit with wiry stems tipped by flower-like bracts and distinctive, three-celled seed capsules. Flowering spurge pairs well with grasses and golden rods, asters, helianthus, and partridge pea. It flourishes in full sun and is hardy from USDA zones 4 to 9.
Great burnet (Sanguisorba officinalis)
Above: The wine-colored flower spikes of great burnet against a backdrop of Rudbeckia.
Great burnet is potentially statuesque, but it never dominates, visually. Instead, its threadlike stems hold burgundy flowerheads effortlessly aloft, adding tousled lightness to late summer and autumn gardens. Grow great burnet in full sun, and enjoy its cucumber-flavored leaves in salad. It is hardy from zones 4 to 8.
Ironweed (Vernonia fasciculata and other species)
Above: Ironweed beginning to bloom on Manhattan’s High Line.
The vivid amethyst tufts of ironweed are welcome relief from the cheery but often dominant yellow palette of the late summer native garden. Smooth ironweed (Vernonia fasciculata) is hardy from zones 4 to 9 and flowers best in full sun. Giant ironweed (V. angustifolia) grows better in partial shade, and is hardy from zones 5 to 8. Both species require ample moisture.
Let us count the many reasons we love Butter Wakefield, the Maryland-born, London-based garden designer who has won numerous prestigious awards for her exuberant projects (twice at the Chelsea Flower Show!). 1) She has no fear of color (her home is as bright and joyful as her gardens). 2) No outdoor space is too tiny for her—in fact, small city backyards are her forte. 3) She designs gardens as one would design interiors, that is, with attention to texture, palette, balance, and comfort. 4) Then, of course, there’s that ridiculously charming name (a childhood moniker that has blessedly stuck). Is there any question we’d be fans?
Read on to learn the pros who inspire her (it’s a who’s who of British designers), the dreamy garden object on her wish list, and best of all, images of her own compact West London backyard. And if you find yourself wanting still more Butter in your life, be sure to sign up for her just-launched online course on “Small Garden Design” with the Create Academy.
My maternal grandfather had the most spectacular gardens in the gorgeous countryside outside of Philadelphia. They were gloriously flower-filled and curiously very English in style and design. I loved wandering around and through them as a girl, and loved the colour-rich tapestry he created.
Above: Don’t have space to plant a tree? Consider a potted tree.
Hardest gardening lesson you’ve learned:
Working for friends is often so much more difficult than one ever imagines.
Favorite gardening hack:
Plunging small pots in large buckets of water through out the summer, it’s the quickest best way to water them.
Favorite way to bring the outdoors in.
Above: Potted roses.
Growing a range of reliable cut flowers in pots is something I always try to include in every scheme. It’s a hugely joyful undertaking to step outside, cut flowers and bring fresh blooms indoors. It is certianly my favourite way to start the weekend.
I can’t get enough of the blue flax in my yard, but it wasn’t always this way. With most other perennials, it’s a binary case of love or hate. With blue flax, though, it was more complicated.
Above: Blue flax’s five-petaled flowers range from a pale blue to a bright cerulean. Photograph by Debbie Ballentine via Flickr.
I’m newish to Central Oregon, where I relocated after a lifetime of living on the East Coast, and unfamiliar with the plants native to this high desert region. Hydrangeas, a landscape leitmotif on the East, are rarely seen in these parts, but Linum lewisii, another plant with vividly blue flowers, peppers the landscape. I see blue flax thriving in the wild on the trails; swaying in the wind next to the the chain-link fence that surrounds the local high school track; and growing in my own front yard, where it was planted by the previous owners.
Above: Once established, one blue flax plant can generate many, many petite flowers. Photograph by Philip Bouchard via Flickr.
While I was immediately smitten with the delicate blue flowers (measuring just 1 to 1.5 inches across) that float over thin stems, I was less than happy to learn that they wither by day’s end. I have always had a bias for durable, long-lasting blooms, and these ephemeral flowers, with an expiration date that measures in hours (not even days), offended my practical sensibility. The thing is, the spent flowers are replaced the next morning with a flush of new blooms. All summer long, this 24-hour cycle of birth, death, and rebirth is repeated.
Above: This flower will die by the end of the day, but new buds are standing in the wings, ready to bloom the next morning. Photograph by tdlucas5000 via Flickr.
I’ve come to admire blue flax. Every morning, like a child waking up to look for fresh snow, I eagerly grab a cup of coffee and peer out our front window searching for the new blooms. Throughout the day, I check on them. And early evening, I do one last inspection to see if, by some miracle, they’re still around, gently swaying in the breeze. They never are. But come morning, I fill up my cup again—and delight in their rebirth.
Cheat Sheet
Above: Its stems can look messy and leggy, so best to plant them en masse or crowd them next to tall grasses and wildflowers. Photograph by George Wesley and Bonita Dannells via Flickr.
Discovered by Meriwether Lewis (of Lewis and Clark fame) in the Rocky Mountains, Linum lewisii is commonly known as blue flax, wild blue flax, prairie flax, Lewis flax, and Lewis’s flax.
The drought-tolerant, deer-resistant perennial is native to Western North America, growing wild in prairies and mountain trails.
Grows to 18 to 30 inches tall, with needle-like blue-green leaves.
Will readily self seed once established.
Exhibits a clumping habit; looks best en masse or mingling in a dense planting with tall grasses.
The cultivar commercially grown for its fibers, seeds, and oil is common flax (Linum usitatissimum), but blue flax’s seeds are edible, too, as long as you cook it first.
Its bloom period covers a long span, from April to September (though in Central Oregon, where the last frost date was in late spring, mine didn’t start blooming until early June).
Keep It Alive
Above: Blue flax happily mingling with coast sunflower, California fuchsia, Sulphur buckwheat, California sun cup, and ‘Margarita BOP’ penstemon. Photograph by Debbie Ballentine via Flickr.
Hardy from USDA zones 5 – 8.
Extremely easy to grow, the wildflower is both cold-hardy and heat-tolerant.
Fairly shade-tolerant but happiest in full sun.
Drought-tolerant, it has low to medium water needs.
Best planted in well-draining soil; preference for rocky or sandy conditions, dislike of clay soil or wet conditions.
To prevent self seeding, prune almost down to the ground at the end of the growing season; if not a concern, leave them standing for birds to snack on during the winter and cut back in early spring.
My wildflower front yard has turned my house into the talk of the town. Everyone loves it! What was once a drab, uneven, and neglected lawn has turned into an urban meadow that is not only stunning but incredibly low maintenance and eco-friendly. Here’s how to transform your property using a wildflower alternative lawn mix!
When I moved into my new home, I knew it would need a ton of tender loving care to get it into a working and beautiful space. But I was up for the challenge!
In the backyard, I’m still deciding where to put my patio and garden beds. For the first little while, I had to find a parking spot for my trailer, which took much of my time.
So, when it came to gardening, I started with the front yard. The space was a mixture of uneven ground that quickly filled with water in my rainy Pacific Northwest climate. The lawn was patchy and very neglected.
It was a big UGH.
I’m happy to say that my front lawn is now one of my biggest sources of joy…and that’s because of wildflowers!
I want to shout from the rooftops that everyone needs to give up the old and demanding process of a front turf lawn and opt for an alternative lawn instead. And today, I’m going to tell you how I turned my front lawn into the heavenly meadow it is today.
The bees LOVE the wildflower lawn. Here is one by the baby blue-eyes flower.
My Front Yard Eco Lawn
My front yard project began in the fall when I planted over 1500 bulbs in my front garden to create a bulb lawn in the spring. I won’t go into detail here, but you can read all about that project in this post!
So, in the spring, while enjoying the first blooms of the season from my bulb lawn, I pondered what kind of alternative lawn mix I would use. Since I loved the flower bulbs so much, I thought, why not keep the flower train chugging along?
You can really see the sweet alyssum, baby blue-eyes, creeping daisy, and a few five-spot.
Is My Alternative Lawn Treadable?
Since this is my front yard, it won’t be getting a lot of traction. Kiddo is no longer a little, and I don’t need to worry about using it as a play space or somewhere for Ozzie to play ball.
So I’m totally okay with it growing about a foot tall or a bit taller. As of now, it’s only about 6-12 inches tall fully grown in.
If you or your animals step on it, the flowers will flop down where they’ve been and take a while to bounce back up. But they will eventually.
If you want something you can walk on without issues, you’ll want a different mix. That’s exactly what I did for my backyard!
My front yard has a path from the gate to the front door, so everyone can still get by!
My Backyard Eco Lawn
This post will mostly be about my gorgeous, beautiful, stunning, and fabulous front lawn (can you tell I’m obsessed?), but I want to mention what’s going on with my backyard as well.
For the backyard, I used West Coast Seed’s Bee Turf alternative lawn mix. This mixture, which is designed to replace conventional lawns, is a mixture of clover and low-growing wildflowers.
I knew that my backyard would need to be more walkable, and it wasn’t in as bad of shape as my front yard, so this was the ideal option.
The mixture incorporated well into my existing lawn.
Rather than covering the entire lawn, I mixed it in with the existing lawn and used it to cover some patches.
I will say it didn’t grow at all in the shade. Not even a little bit. But in the areas where there’s full sun, it filled in really nicely.
Like I said, it’s low-growing, so it looks a lot more like a conventional lawn but is much more eco-friendly! You don’t have to mow it nearly as often, it requires significantly less water and fertilizer, is resistant to weeds and chafer beetles, and increases habitat and forage for pollinators.
Some buttercup weeds are in the backyard, but I don’t mind.
My Alternative Lawn Planting Methodology
I have something to confess. I didn’t really follow the instructions on how to grow my front yard alternative lawn properly, but you saw that it still turned out amazing!
My method of planting is rooted entirely in chaos gardening. I go in with the mindset that nothing needs to be perfect, and I’m just trying to get things done in those moments when I can garden. So, following the same methodology as me might make some a little uneasy, as many like to go by the book.
The recommendation is that you remove as much of the existing vegetation as possible and loosen up the soil. I didn’t do that.
My lawn was VERY uneven and full of moss, grass, and buttercup. Even though buttercup is an invasive weed, I left it all and instead covered the entire lawn with a turf soil blend made of sand and compost.
Yes, I dealt with a muddy lawn for a while. But the bulbs came up early!
I used a rake to level out the lawn as best I could and then seeded my wildflower alternative lawn on top of it, using the rake again to blend the seeds into the soil.
The grass has now popped up amidst the wildflowers, and the buttercup, too, but I don’t mind, as it doesn’t look out of place with all the wild plants in there.
Raking it in helped to ensure the seeds stayed in place.
The other thing I did outside of the instructions was planted way too early. West Coast Seeds suggests you plant two weeks before your last frost date, but we had a strange winter, to say the least.
We had a very warm spell in mid-winter, and I saw this as an opportunity to get a head start on the lawn. After all, due to the top soil and rain, the lawn was mud at this point!
This worked out really well for me. Yes, I definitely had some losses, as I saw some heaving after we got a big frost (see below!). I’m not sure how the lawn would look if that didn’t happen, but I’m perfectly content with how it looks today.
Sun vs Shade Germination
I mentioned that the backyard didn’t germinate in the shade at all, and it didn’t fare well in the front yard, either.
The sunniest part of the yard had the most and earliest blooms. The plants right by my shady fence have all grown in now, but I supplemented it with some shade turf grass to fill in some of the spaces since some of the flowers weren’t growing without any sunshine.
Patience is key! It will eventually fill in.
But that is just the small patch along the fence. Now, it looks pretty even overall. All the time, people on the street stop to look at the lawn and I get so many compliments on it.
The buttercup weed mixes in nicely with the wildflower mix.
Watering Needs
As I’m writing this, I haven’t watered my lawn once. Yes, NO extra water has been needed.
It’s the number one question I get from people who pass by on the street as they ask me how much water it needs.
One of the reasons I planted it early on was so that I could get the seeds in right before it rained. I live in a very rainy climate, so I didn’t need any supplemental watering while the seeds were young and germinating.
According to West Coast Seeds, the lawn should only need water during long periods of hot and dry weather, so they should be able to handle most of the summer without any additional water. Which is not something the conventional lawn can say!
Ozzie and Magic don’t mind the eco lawn one bit.
Mowing My Eco Lawn
I have yet to mow my wildflower lawn, and the flowers currently range from 6 to 12 inches tall. I may mow it as I go along, but as of right now, I have no plans to mow my lawn.
The wildflower alternative lawn mix is a blend that isn’t intended to be mowed. The plants mature and go to seed, planting themselves and continuing to grow like a meadow.
West Coast Seeds suggests controlling growth with a string trimmer, but if you really want a manicured look, to mow once a month to 2 ½ to 3 inches. Keep in mind, the more you mow, the less blooms you have.
If you want something more manicured, a low-growing alternative lawn mix like the one I have in my backyard would probably be a better option for you, and you still only need to mow once a month.
I’ll say, I definitely overseeded. West Coast Seeds suggests that 50g should cover 430 sq. ft., and I pretty well doubled that. To say my wildflower lawn is luscious is an understatement!
Here, you can see how tall it is. Magic, my cat, certainly doesn’t mind!
And there you have it! That’s how my alternative lawn turned out, and I absolutely couldn’t recommend it enough. I won’t have to mow or water my lawn, and the bees are absolutely loving it.
If you have any questions about growing your own eco lawn, let me know in the comments below, and I’ll answer them as soon as I’m able.
This is part of a series with Perfect Earth Project, a nonprofit dedicated to toxic-free, nature-based gardening, on how you can be more sustainable in your landscapes at home.
“A garden needs a heartbeat,” says Leslie Needham, founder of her eponymous design firm in Bedford, NY. And Needham will be the first to admit that her former English-style garden—tightly clipped hedges, filled with plants originating from around the world—didn’t quite have one. “It was pretty stagnant,” she says. But when she looked down at the Mianus River Gorge, a protected stretch of land filled with native plants that abuts her property, she saw a flourish of birds, animals, insects. It thrummed with activity—it had a heartbeat.
Working with Andrea Spunberg, a senior designer at her firm, who was also one of Needham’s first landscape design students when she taught at the New York Botanical Garden, she began incorporating native plants into existing beds, converting areas of lawn into meadow and letting plants grow more freely and openly. Soon phloxes and asters courted butterflies and bees. Shrubs like bayberry and Fothergilla provided shelter for wildlife. And grasses and sedges, like little bluestem and carex, offered four season beauty.
Her new design philosophy focuses on “blurring the edges horticulturally to provide a connection, as Doug Tallamy encourages, to the natural landscape around us,” she says. “There’s a comfort that comes when a planting is correct for its environment,” says Needham. “It just feels of a place.” Spunberg agrees, “It feels alive.”
Below, Needham and Spunberg share eight ways to make your garden spring into life.
Photography of Leslie Needham Design.
1. Embrace the vernacular.
Above: Leslie and Andrea stand in front of Needham’s greenhouse. The two do extensive research of the native flora for each project, reading extensively, walking in local parks to see what’s growing and where, and studying the conditions of the property before coming up with a plant palette.
“Architecturally, I understood how a house needs to fit into its setting. It was built in a certain style for a certain reason to a certain scale,” says Needham. “But then I realized, there’s a vernacular in the landscape too and you get it through native plants. I now think of genius loci: what is the spirit of this place and how do you get it?” For Spunberg, who grew up in Hungary, conserving natural resources by gardening with native plants was part of her upbringing. When she moved to the states, she brought this sustainable approach with her, gravitating to native plants in her designs out of resourcefulness but also because she is totally smitten with them. “Wildflowers are so much joy,” she says. “I love the understated beauty, the life they bring, and the connection to the wilder landscape.”
Are you searching for the best flower quotes and flower captions? This list has over one hundred beautiful flower sayings and inspirational floral quotes to lift your mood and put a smile on your face.
The power of flowers
Flowers just make life better, don’t they?
We use them to convey messages of love and support, we enjoy the beauty of flowers and their fragrance, and growing them in our gardens helps us to embrace nature and can even improve ourmental health. Flowers are also an absolutely vital part of our food chain, and contribute to the welfare of pretty much every species on our planet.
When you think about all of these ways that flowers impact on our lives, it’s no wonder that so many people have been inspired to write about them.
The very best flower quotes
I’ve created this bumper collection of flower quotes and captions about flowers to make it easy for you to find the perfect words.
I’ve included beautiful flower quotes, inspiring quotes about a flower, happy flower quotes, flower love quotes, and short flower quotes for when you want to keep it simple. There are also flower proverbs to enjoy, and funny flower quotes to make you giggle.
Make sure you bookmark this post, so you can come back to it whenever you need a floral quote for a photo or social media post – or simply a bit of a flower fix!
Aesthetic flower captions for instagram and flowers quotes for instagram photos
Looking for instagram captions about flowers, or a selection of flower quotes for instagram? You’ll be spoilt for choice with this selection of aesthetic flower quotes to use with your flower pictures. As well as being great captions for flowers photos, they’re also perfect for adding to floral greeting cards, school nature projects, and texts.
Make sure you check out my nature hashtags copy and paste lists too. As well as a list of popular hashtags for flower photos, there are lots of other nature-themed lists that will save you loads of time and help your instagram posts reach a wider audience.
Beautiful flower quotes
Here’s a selection of beautiful quotes about flowers to get you started.
“Every flower is a soul blossoming in nature.” – Gerard de Nerval
“Flowers are the music of the ground. From earth’s lips spoken without sound.” – Edwin Curran
“Earth laughs in flowers.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“She wore flowers in her hair and carried magic secrets in her eyes.” – Arundhati Roy
“If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would change.” – Buddha
“Flowers… are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty outvalues all the utilities of the world.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Don’t wait for someone to bring you flowers. Plant your own garden and decorate your own soul.” – Luther Burbank
“Flowers whisper ‘Beauty!’ to the world, even as they fade, wilt, fall.” – Dr. SunWolf
“How does the Meadow flower its bloom unfold? Because the lovely little flower is free down to its root, and in that freedom bold.” – William Wordsworth
“Many eyes go through the meadow, but few see the flowers in it.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Happiness radiates like the fragrance from a flower and draws all good things towards you.” – Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Joyful and happy flower quotes
If you need an uplifting caption for flowers, there are plenty here to choose from.
“Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.” – Luther Burbank
“In joy or sadness, flowers are our constant friends.” – Okakura Kakuzo
“People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us.” – Iris Murdoch
“Flowers are like friends; they bring colour to your world.”– Unknown
“Joy can spring like a flower even from the cliffs of despair.” – Anne Morrow Lindbergh
“Happiness held is the seed; happiness shared is the flower.” – John Harrigan
Inspiring flower quotes
These inspirational flower quotes work brilliantly as captions for flower photos, but they’re also a lovely pick-me-up in their own right.
“Where flowers bloom, so does hope.” – Lady Bird Johnson
“Even the tiniest of flowers can have the toughest roots.” – Shannon Mullen
“A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms.” – Zen Shin
“Flowers grow back, even after they are stepped on. So will I.” – Unknown
“The flower that follows the sun does so even in cloudy days.” – Robert Leighton
“Stretching his hand up to reach the stars, too often man forgets the flowers at his feet.” – Jeremy Bentham
“Deep in their roots, all flowers keep the light.” – Theodore Roethke
“I’d rather wear flowers in my hair, than diamonds around my neck.” – Unknown
“A rose can never be a sunflower, and a sunflower can never be a rose. All flowers are beautiful in their own way, and that’s like women too.” – Miranda Kerr
“By plucking her petals, you do not gather the beauty of the flower.” – Rabindranath Tagore
“Flowers don’t tell; they show.” – Stephanie Skeem
“It will never rain roses: when we want to have more roses we must plant more trees.” – George Eliot
“Don’t let the tall weeds cast a shadow on the beautiful flowers in your garden.” – Steve Maraboli
“Be honest, be nice, be a flower not a weed.” – Aaron Neville
Funny flower quotes
Keep things light-hearted with these funny flower blossom quotes and funny flower captions.
“If the English language made any sense, lackadaisical would have something to do with a shortage of flowers.” -Doug Larson
“I named all my children after flowers. There’s Lillie and Rose and my son, Artificial.” – Bert Williams
“If you think squash is a competitive activity, try flower arranging.” – Alan Bennett
“If you want to say it with flowers, remember that a single rose screams in your face: ‘I’m cheap!” – Delta Burke
“At my age flowers scare me.” – George Burns
“Money is a powerful aphrodisiac but flowers work almost as well.” – Robert A. Heinlein
“Don’t send me flowers when I’m dead. If you like me, send them while I’m alive.” – Brian Clough
Blooming flower quotes
These best quotes about blooming flowers are the perfect accompaniment to a stunning bouquet.
“A flower does not use words to announce its arrival to the world; it just blooms.” – Mashona Dhliwayo
“Flowers don’t worry about how they’re going to bloom. They just open up and turn toward the light and that makes them beautiful.” – Jim Carrey
“Everything is blooming most recklessly; if it were voices instead of colours, there would be an unbelievable shrieking into the heart of the night.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
“Minds are like flowers; they open only when the time is right.” – Unknown
“A flower blooming in the desert proves to the world that adversity, no matter how great, can be overcome.” – Matshona Dhliwayo
“Every flower blooms in its own time.” – Ken Petti
“If you tend to a flower, it will bloom, no matter how many weeds surround it.” – Matshona Dhliwayo
Wild flower quotes
Like your flowers more natural? Check out these wildflower quotes.
“Like wildflowers, you must allow yourself to grow in all the places people thought you never would.” – E.V.
“Almost every person, from childhood, has been touched by the untamed beauty of wildflowers.” – Lady Bird Johnson
“She is like a wildflower; beautiful, fierce, and free.” – Unknown
“One person’s weed is another person’s wildflower.” – Susan Wittig Albert
“What a lonely place it would be to have a world without a wildflower!” – Roland R. Kemler
“Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair.” – Susan Polis Schutz
Flower love quotes
Sometimes flowers can say a thousand words, but these love quotes about flowers can also help you get the message across.
“A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, and man cannot live without love.” – Max Muller
“If I had a single flower for every time I think about you, I could walk forever in my garden.” – Claudia AdrienneGrandi
“Life is the flower for which love is the honey.” – Victor Hugo
“Love is flower like; Friendship is like a sheltering tree.” – Samuel Taylor Coleridge
“The rose is the flower and handmaiden of love – the lily, her fair associate, is the emblem of beauty and purity.” – Dorothea Dix
“She sprouted love like flowers, grew a garden in her mind, and even on the darkest days, from her smile the sun still shined.” – Erin Hanson
“Love is like wildflowers; it’s often found in the most unlikely places.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“No matter how chaotic it is, wildflowers will still spring up in the middle of nowhere.” – Sheryl Crow
“My love for you blossoms every day.” – Unknown
“A weed is no more than a flower in disguise, Which is seen through at once if love gives a man eyes.” – James Russell Lowell
“Love is the flower you’ve got to let grow.” – John Lennon
Short flower quotes
Keep it simple with these short quotes about flowers and short flower captions for instagram.
“A flower blossoms for its own joy.” – Oscar Wilde
“Flowers are restful to look at. They have neither emotions nor conflicts.” – Sigmund Freud
“The flower that smells the sweetest is shy and lowly.” – William Wordsworth
“He is happiest who hath power to gather wisdom from a flower.” – Mary Howitt
“I must have flowers, always, and always.” – Claude Monet
“Butterflies are self-propelled flowers.” – Robert A. Heinlein
“Every flower must grow through dirt.” – Laurie Jean Sennott
“A weed is but an unloved flower.” – Ella Wheeler Wilcox
“These stars of earth, these golden flowers.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“There are always flowers for those who want to see them.” – Henri Matisse
“To me, flowers are happiness.” – Stefano Gabbana
“Flowers preach to us if we will hear.” – Christina Rossetti
Flower quotes about life
How about some quotes on flowers and life to inspire you?
“We don’t ask a flower any special reason for its existence. We just look at it and are able to accept it as being something different from ourselves.” – Gwendolyn Brooks
“Just living is not enough… one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.” – Hans Christian Andersen
“Flowers grow out of dark moments.” – Corita Kent
“I am in awe of flowers. Not because of their colours, but because even though they have dirt in their roots, they still grow. They still bloom.” – D. Antoinette Foy
“I always think the flowers can see us, and know what we are thinking about.” – George Eliot
“Flowers didn’t ask to be flowers and I didn’t ask to be me.” – Kurt Vonnegut
“A world of grief and pain, flowers bloom – even then.” – Kobayashi Issa
Quotes about spring flowers
There’s an abundance of spring-themed flower quotes and blossom quotes to enjoy.
“The first blooms of spring always make my heart sing.” – S. Brown
“Spring unlocks the flowers to paint the laughing soil.” – Bishop Reginald Heber
“You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming.” – Pablo Neruda
“If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness.” – St Therese of Lisieux
“If you’ve never been thrilled to the very edges of your soul by a flower in spring bloom, maybe your soul has never been in bloom.” – Audra Foveo
“What a strange thing! To be alive, beneath cherry blossoms.” – Kobayashi Issa
“Never yet was a springtime, when the buds forgot to bloom.” – Margaret Elizabeth Sangster
“Can words describe the fragrance of the very breath of spring?” – Neltje Blanchan
“Blossom by blossom the spring begins.” – Algernon Charles Swinburne
“When all at once I saw a crowd, A host, of golden daffodils; Beside the lake, beneath the trees, Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.” – William Wordsworth
“I love spring anywhere, but if I could choose I would always greet it in a garden.” – Ruth Stout
Gardens and flowers go hand-in-hand, so you may need one of these garden-themed instagram flower quotes.
“Gardens and flowers have a way of bringing people together, drawing them from their homes.” – Clare Ansberry
“The very best relationship has a gardener and a flower. The gardener nurtures and the flower blooms.” – Carole Radziwill
“Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them.” – A A Milne
“I appreciate the misunderstanding I have had with Nature over my perennial border. I think it is a flower garden; she thinks it is a meadow lacking grass, and tries to correct the error.” – Sara Stein
“If you’ve never experienced the joy of accomplishing more than you can imagine, plant a garden.” – Robert Brault
“To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.” – Audrey Hepburn
Smell the flowers quotes
These meaningful flower quotations will get you thinking.
“You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way.” – Walter Hagen
“I hope that while so many people are out smelling the flowers, someone is taking the time to plant some.” – Herbert Rappaport
“Take time to smell the roses.” – Proverb
“I love to smell flowers in the dark … You get hold of their soul then.” – Lucy Maud Montgomery
“As you walk down the fairway of life you must smell the roses, for you only get to play one round.” – Ben Hogan
“The beauty of life is in each precious moment! Stop and smell the roses” – Unknown
Flower sayings & Flower proverbs
For a time-honoured saying about flowers, proverbs are always worth a look.
Happiness is to hold flowers in both hands. – Japanese proverb
All the flowers of tomorrow are in the seeds of today. – Indian proverb
A person born to be a flower pot will not go beyond the porch. – Mexican Proverb
April showers bring May flowers. – English proverb
The flowers in your garden don’t smell as sweet as those in the wild, but they last much longer. – Chinese Proverb
To an optimist every weed is a flower; to a pessimist every flower is a weed. – Finnish proverb
A good bee will not go to a drooping flower. – Romanian Proverb
The most beautiful flowers flourish in the shade. – Japanese Proverb
The gardener who loves roses is slave to a thousand thorns. – Turkish proverb
Yesterday’s flowers are today’s dreams. – Japanese proverb
More lovely flower quotes
Still hungry for more quotations about flowers?
“Love is like a beautiful flower which I may not touch, but whose fragrance makes the garden a place of delight just the same.” – Helen Keller
“Perfumes are the feelings of flowers” – Heinrich Heine
“All the stars are a-bloom with flowers” – Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
“These flowers are like the pleasures of the world.” – William Shakespeare
“The Amen of nature is always a flower.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr
“After women, flowers are the most lovely thing God has given the world.” – Christian Dior
“The butterfly is a flying flower, The flower a tethered butterfly.” – Ponce Denis Écouchard Lebrun
“Loveliest of lovely things are they on earth that soonest pass away. The rose that lives its little hour is prized beyond the sculptured flower.” – William Cullen Bryant
“Flowers have spoken to me more than I can tell in written words. They are the hieroglyphics of angels, loved by all men for the beauty of their character.” – Lydia Maria Child
“Every flower blooms at a different pace.” – Suzy Kassem
“Politeness is the flower of humanity.” – Joseph Joubert
“Open the bloom of your heart and become a gift of beauty to the world.” – Bryant McGill
“Flowers are love’s truest language.” – Park Benjamin Sr.
“Live life in full bloom.” – Unknown
“No matter how chaotic it is, wildflowers will still spring up in the middle of nowhere.” – Sheryl Crow
Love exploring nature with the family? My book *A Year of Nature Craft and Play is full of 52 nature-based crafts, games and activities to keep kids busy all year round.
When my friend and colleague Margot Guralnick and I set out to write The Low-Impact Home, we had many discussions with Remodelista founder Julie Carlson about whether our project would be a beautiful coffee table book or a nuts-and-bolts manual for eco-minded homeowners. What we realized was, we needn’t sacrifice one for the other. Our book would be equal parts inspiration and information.
When I opened up Beyond the Meadows: Portrait of a Natural and Biodiverse Garden by Krautkopf, in bookstores now, I immediately recognized in it the same desire to both inspire and edify. That the book is brimming with gorgeous images isn’t all that surprising given its authors, German homesteaders Susann Probst and Yannic Schon, are professional photographers. What is unexpected, and delightful, is how much they’ve chosen to share about their experience as new homesteaders. The two really get into the weeds, if you will, of how they designed their landscape, cared for their plants, welcomed biodiversity, naturally enriched the soil, and, ultimately, became self-sufficient. Diagrams, before and after shots, and plant lists help tell their gardening journey. And they’re blessedly not shy about revealing their mistakes, either.
Above: Susann and Yannic’s homesteading journey started in 2018, when they moved from Berlin to a small cottage with lots of land in a village in northeastern Germany. It was built as a “settler’s house,” one of many that cropped up post-WWII to encourage people to become more self-sufficient. Their new book, now available in English, documents their experience working the land as new gardeners.
“To be honest, we held back from writing a gardening book for a long time,” Susann tells us. “We felt we were only at the very beginning of the learning process and therefore didn’t feel ready. However, at one point we realized that this gardening journey would never end and that we would constantly be learning new things that would be worth writing about. So there would never be the ‘right’ time to start.” The results are less guidebook and more garden memoir. “We wanted a book full of beauty and inspiration, which would nevertheless contain our knowledge and experiences from the past five years,” she says.
Susann and Yannic’s garden appeared in The Low-Impact Home—Margot and I were enchanted by their property and their commitment to ecology-based gardening—so I read their book with great interest. But even if you don’t know a thing about them and don’t harbor any fantasies about growing your own food, Beyond the Meadows is a must-read. It’s for anyone curious about how to be a better gardener or adopt more planet-friendly approaches—and also for those who simply yearn to slow down and smell the earth.
According to Wong, rewilding your land means rethinking how we garden and seeing ourselves as stewards of the land. Instead of trying to tame the land, Wong listens to it and works with what nature has already set into motion, encouraging plants that she wants to keep, and editing out ones that are highly invasive or otherwise undesired.
Blur the boundaries.
Above: Beyond what Wong affectionately deems the “weed lawn” are her vegetable and foraging beds, and beyond that a dry meadow and eventually the forest edge.
Looking out on Wong’s garden, it’s hard to tell where the garden ends and the wilderness begins–and that is intentional. “Instead of creating boundaries between wild and not wild, I like letting plants merge next to each other. I don’t need to impose hard lines demarking my garden, whether by hardscape, mulching, plastic weed control, or chemical eradication,” writes Wong of her approach to gardening.
But mark some edges.
While Wong lets the borders between her yard and the wild area get fuzzy, she purposefully marks boundaries around patches of wild plants that she wishes to keep. “Outlining these spaces can give a tiny bit of structure to a wild and sprawling garden, especially in the height of the season when things are growing like weeds,” says Wong.
Embrace wild wood.
Above: Wong creates open-lashed fences and structures from found wood, which she describes in detail in the pages of Into the Weeds.
Instead of buying fencing at the home improvement store, Wong forages “wild wood” to make fences, borders, and gates in her garden, creating her own woven wattle and open-lashed edging using wood and vines found on her property. The wild wood is in harmony with her untamed aesthetic and will eventually nourish the soil when it breaks down—it’s also eminently affordable.
Rethink your vegetable beds.
Above: Wong views raised beds as “a home base” that plants are bound to escape, rather than a strict container that must be meticulously weeded around.
Wong cultivates many edible plants in beds, but she mixes them with two types of wild plants: Familiar foraging plants and native plants that are not edible but add other benefits, like milkweed and mountain mint. “These beds are a dazzling array of diversity,” she writes. “A mixed blend of natives and nonnatives, perennials, annuals, and biannuals.”
Above: Into The Weeds is available now wherever books are sold, including Bookshop.org.
While Wong admits her forager’s approach to gardening is unconventional, she also believes that as weather becomes more extreme and unpredictable, it will be more difficult to maintain large areas in a maintained, manicured way. “I think this is where things are heading, but for now, it’s for people who are kind of like me—they’re frustrated, failed gardeners,” Wong says. “This book is for the people that can’t garden the way garden books are supposed to inspire us to garden.”
For more recently published books to check out, see:
Wildflower season is a magical time that draws visitors and residents alike to area hiking trails in search of bursts of natural color. Lucky for us, Phoenix is surrounded by beautiful landscapes waiting to be explored…
Create a fun and beautiful holiday neighbor gift with wildflower seeds
A few years ago, I gave a friend (and neighbor) a wildflower seed packet as a thank you. She planted the seeds. Now, each spring, her yard is covered with beautiful wildflower blooms. This year, I decided to share wildflower seeds with more neighbors as a holiday gift. I hope to see more yards in our neighborhood filled with blooms and pollinators next spring!
My neighbor’s beautiful wildflowers
The holidays are often the perfect time to plant wildflower seeds. Make it easy for your friends and neighbors to add wildflowers to their yards and gardens — give them the gift of wildflower seeds. This gift will bring a smile to their faces and make your community a beautiful place.
1. Choose the right wildflower seeds
Learn which wildflowers grow well in your area and buy seeds in bulk. Regional seed mixes are available from flower suppliers like American Meadows. Learn which seeds are native and grow best in your region. Select 4-5 of these seeds to add to your mix.
If you grow wildflowers, save seeds to add to your wildflower seed packets!
2. Create the wildflower seed packets
Now, onto the fun part! The next step is filling the seed bags. I used these craft tin tie bags from Amazon. Add ½ to 1 cup sand or vermiculite as filler. Add one teaspoon of each type of seed into the filler. If you purchased a seed mixture, include 4-5 teaspoons in each bag.
3. Download and print the labels for the wildflower seed packets
Once you’ve created the seed packets, including instructions on how to plant and grow the wildflowers is essential. I created a free download to print out and attach to the packets or gift bags.
Download the wildflower seed packet labels and instructions here:
If you’re looking for more specifics about how to grow wildflowers, read my previous blog post about how to grow wildflowers.
4. Deliver your gifts with a smile!
One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is delivering gifts to my neighbors. When my kids were young, we wore Santa hats and sang (or tried to sing) carols when they opened the door. It’s nice to connect face-to-face and say hello!
Creating a fun and beautiful holiday neighbor gift with wildflower seeds is a fantastic way to bring a smile to your neighbors’ faces. Selecting the right seeds and including instructions can spread color and beauty throughout your neighborhood. So, get creative, have fun, and bring a little joy (and some flowers) to your community this holiday season!
Looking for more garden gift ideas?
If this post about creating a fun and beautiful holiday neighbor gift with wildflower seed packets was helpful, please share it:
Create a fun and beautiful holiday neighbor gift with wildflower seeds
A few years ago, I gave a friend (and neighbor) a wildflower seed packet as a thank you. She planted the seeds. Now, each spring, her yard is covered with beautiful wildflower blooms. This year, I decided to share wildflower seeds with more neighbors as a holiday gift. I hope to see more yards in our neighborhood filled with blooms and pollinators next spring!
My neighbor’s beautiful wildflowers
The holidays are often the perfect time to plant wildflower seeds. Make it easy for your friends and neighbors to add wildflowers to their yards and gardens — give them the gift of wildflower seeds. This gift will bring a smile to their faces and make your community a beautiful place.
1. Choose the right wildflower seeds
Learn which wildflowers grow well in your area and buy seeds in bulk. Regional seed mixes are available from flower suppliers like American Meadows. Learn which seeds are native and grow best in your region. Select 4-5 of these seeds to add to your mix.
I used cosmos, California poppy, Shirley poppy, larkspur, and cornflower (bachelor button) seeds in my mix.
If you grow wildflowers, save seeds to add to your wildflower seed packets!
2. Create the wildflower seed packets
Now, onto the fun part! The next step is filling the seed bags. I used these craft tin tie bags from Amazon. Add ½ to 1 cup sand or vermiculite as filler. Add one teaspoon of each type of seed into the filler. If you purchased a seed mixture, include 4-5 teaspoons in each bag.
3. Download and print the labels for the wildflower seed packets
Once you’ve created the seed packets, including instructions on how to plant and grow the wildflowers is essential. I created a free download to print out and attach to the packets or gift bags.
Download the wildflower seed packet labels and instructions here:
If you’re looking for more specifics about how to grow wildflowers, read my previous blog post about how to grow wildflowers.
4. Deliver your gifts with a smile!
One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is delivering gifts to my neighbors. When my kids were young, we wore Santa hats and sang (or tried to sing) carols when they opened the door. It’s nice to connect face-to-face and say hello!
Creating a fun and beautiful holiday neighbor gift with wildflower seeds is a fantastic way to bring a smile to your neighbors’ faces. Selecting the right seeds and including instructions can spread color and beauty throughout your neighborhood. So, get creative, have fun, and bring a little joy (and some flowers) to your community this holiday season!
Looking for more garden gift ideas?
If this post about creating a fun and beautiful holiday neighbor gift with wildflower seed packets was helpful, please share it:
Create a fun and beautiful holiday neighbor gift with wildflower seeds
A few years ago, I gave a friend (and neighbor) a wildflower seed packet as a thank you. She planted the seeds. Now, each spring, her yard is covered with beautiful wildflower blooms. This year, I decided to share wildflower seeds with more neighbors as a holiday gift. I hope to see more yards in our neighborhood filled with blooms and pollinators next spring!
My neighbor’s beautiful wildflowers
The holidays are often the perfect time to plant wildflower seeds. Make it easy for your friends and neighbors to add wildflowers to their yards and gardens — give them the gift of wildflower seeds. This gift will bring a smile to their faces and make your community a beautiful place.
1. Choose the right wildflower seeds
Learn which wildflowers grow well in your area and buy seeds in bulk. Regional seed mixes are available from flower suppliers like American Meadows. Learn which seeds are native and grow best in your region. Select 4-5 of these seeds to add to your mix.
I used cosmos, California poppy, Shirley poppy, larkspur, and cornflower (bachelor button) seeds in my mix.
If you grow wildflowers, save seeds to add to your wildflower seed packets!
2. Create the wildflower seed packets
Now, onto the fun part! The next step is filling the seed bags. I used these craft tin tie bags from Amazon. Add ½ to 1 cup sand or vermiculite as filler. Add one teaspoon of each type of seed into the filler. If you purchased a seed mixture, include 4-5 teaspoons in each bag.
3. Download and print the labels for the wildflower seed packets
Once you’ve created the seed packets, including instructions on how to plant and grow the wildflowers is essential. I created a free download to print out and attach to the packets or gift bags.
Download the wildflower seed packet labels and instructions here:
If you’re looking for more specifics about how to grow wildflowers, read my previous blog post about how to grow wildflowers.
4. Deliver your gifts with a smile!
One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is delivering gifts to my neighbors. When my kids were young, we wore Santa hats and sang (or tried to sing) carols when they opened the door. It’s nice to connect face-to-face and say hello!
Creating a fun and beautiful holiday neighbor gift with wildflower seeds is a fantastic way to bring a smile to your neighbors’ faces. Selecting the right seeds and including instructions can spread color and beauty throughout your neighborhood. So, get creative, have fun, and bring a little joy (and some flowers) to your community this holiday season!
Looking for more garden gift ideas?
If this post about creating a fun and beautiful holiday neighbor gift with wildflower seed packets was helpful, please share it:
Create a fun and beautiful holiday neighbor gift with wildflower seeds
A few years ago, I gave a friend (and neighbor) a wildflower seed packet as a thank you. She planted the seeds. Now, each spring, her yard is covered with beautiful wildflower blooms. This year, I decided to share wildflower seeds with more neighbors as a holiday gift. I hope to see more yards in our neighborhood filled with blooms and pollinators next spring!
My neighbor’s beautiful wildflowers
The holidays are often the perfect time to plant wildflower seeds. Make it easy for your friends and neighbors to add wildflowers to their yards and gardens — give them the gift of wildflower seeds. This gift will bring a smile to their faces and make your community a beautiful place.
1. Choose the right wildflower seeds
Learn which wildflowers grow well in your area and buy seeds in bulk. Regional seed mixes are available from flower suppliers like American Meadows. Learn which seeds are native and grow best in your region. Select 4-5 of these seeds to add to your mix.
I used cosmos, California poppy, Shirley poppy, larkspur, and cornflower (bachelor button) seeds in my mix.
If you grow wildflowers, save seeds to add to your wildflower seed packets!
2. Create the wildflower seed packets
Now, onto the fun part! The next step is filling the seed bags. I used these craft tin tie bags from Amazon. Add ½ to 1 cup sand or vermiculite as filler. Add one teaspoon of each type of seed into the filler. If you purchased a seed mixture, include 4-5 teaspoons in each bag.
3. Download and print the labels for the wildflower seed packets
Once you’ve created the seed packets, including instructions on how to plant and grow the wildflowers is essential. I created a free download to print out and attach to the packets or gift bags.
Download the wildflower seed packet labels and instructions here:
If you’re looking for more specifics about how to grow wildflowers, read my previous blog post about how to grow wildflowers.
4. Deliver your gifts with a smile!
One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is delivering gifts to my neighbors. When my kids were young, we wore Santa hats and sang (or tried to sing) carols when they opened the door. It’s nice to connect face-to-face and say hello!
Creating a fun and beautiful holiday neighbor gift with wildflower seeds is a fantastic way to bring a smile to your neighbors’ faces. Selecting the right seeds and including instructions can spread color and beauty throughout your neighborhood. So, get creative, have fun, and bring a little joy (and some flowers) to your community this holiday season!
Looking for more garden gift ideas?
If this post about creating a fun and beautiful holiday neighbor gift with wildflower seed packets was helpful, please share it:
