AUTUMN WILDFLOWER MAGIC NOW

AUTUMN WILDFLOWERS

If wildflowers bring your soul joy, autumn is a wonderful time to consider planting them. Grass growth is slowing, so it gives newly sown wildflower seed a chance to come through without strong competition.

Some of the most beautiful meadows, roadsides, woodland and farmland edges get their start in late September.

It’s not hard to create your own wildflower beauty. We’ve some great tips from wildflower enthusiasts to share with you.

1. Find your best spots & your best seeds

Wildflowers thrive best soil that is thin , well drained, and low in nutrients. But if you have soil high in chalk, limestone, acid, or clay, you can find wildflower seed mixes designed to thrive in each condition.

2. Sow what you want to reap

You will need about 2.5 grams of mixed seed per square meter or 10 kg per acre, at maximum.

3. Prep your soil

It may look wild, but the plot needs a bit of taming. Aggressive prickly weeds, like docks, thistles, & nettles need to be controlled. They are hard to remove once seeds are sown.

We don’t like using herbicides, so we trick mother nature a more natural way: Score & rake the seedbed, wait a few weeks for weeds to germinate, then cultivate again to destroy & bury them.

4. Sow like a wild pro

Next, work through the seedbed and roll it out. Broadcast the seeds, rake, roll again, & let nature take its beautiful course.

5.  Wild management

Completely wild growth isn’t what you are after. That will give you a mass of scrub. For wildflower blooms, mow the meadow during its first few seasons to control annual weeds.

For Year 2, let the meadow flower before mowing. Be sure to remove cuttings to make soil less fertile, as wildflowers prefer.

6. Banish perennial weeds

Perennial weeds should be cut out. Annual weed varieties will disappear after the first season of cutting.

7. Welcome the monarchs!

Monarch butterflies migrate in autumn. They are so happy to have some wildflowers to nourish their journey.

8. Enjoy forever!

Wild flower meadows become a permanent joy, once successfully established. With proper management, they only get better with age.

WILD AUTUMN BLOOMS

Here are a few gorgeous wildflowers that bloom in autumn:

• Asclepias asperula (spider milkweed) - March to October
• Asclepias tuberosa (butterfly milkweed) - May to September
• Chamaecrista fasciculata var. fasciculata (partridge pea) - May to October
• Coreopsis tinctoria var. tinctoria (golden tickseed) - February to November

• Echinacea purpurea (eastern purple coneflower) - April to September
• Eryngium leavenworthii (Leavenworth's eryngo) - July to September

• Helianthus maximiliani (Maximilian sunflower) - August to November
• Ratibida columnifera (upright prairie coneflower) - May to October

Read more about Beautiful Wild in Beautiful Wild Films Now, Beautiful Rider on Some Wildly Beautiful Storms Now, The Most Wildly Beautiful Mushrooms, The Beauty of Foxes Now, Wild Wild Horses Are Beautiful Now and A Beautiful New Return To The Wild Now.

And check out more beautiful things happening now in BN Arts/Design, Nature/Science, Food/Drink, Place/Time, Mind/Body, and Soul/Impact Daily Fix posts.

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IMAGE CREDITS:

1. Image: by Vicki DeLoach. “Last Gulf Frit of October.”
2. Image: by Johanna Madjedi. “Remnants of Fall.”
3. Image: by ukgardenphotos. “Dry Gardens in England. RHS Wisley Gardens, Surrey, UK.”
4. Image: by JR P. “Looking Ahead to Autumn. A Shot of Sumac taken early last November in the wildflower meadows at Georgia's Gibbs Gardens.”
5. Image: by Hornbeam Arts. “Snakeshead Fritillary.”
6. Image: by Timelapsed. “Fragrant Orchids at Aston Clinton Ragpits.”
7. Image: by bruce_fulton. “Fall Wildflower Bloom, Arizona.”
8. Image: by Frank. “Morgan Hill Overlook. Noxubee Refuge, Starkville, Mississippi.”
9. Image: by Vicki DeLoach. “Two Not Of A Kind - This Week.”
10. Image: by Justin Kern. “Pines in the Clouds—Mount Rainier National Park.”
11. Image: by Linda Owen. “Clash of Seasons.”
12. Image: by Maja Dumat. “Purpur-Sonnenhut (Echinacea purpurea).”
13. Image: by Diego Delso. “Field of sunflowers (Helianthus annuus) with the church of Nuestra Señora de La Blanca in the background, Cardejón, Spain.”
14. Image: by Bob Wick. Courtesy of Bureau of Land Management. “Colorado.”
15. Image: by Putneypics. “Monarchs, Putney.”
16. Image: by BN App - Download now!
17. Image: by Theophilos Papadopoulos. “Autumn Wildflowers.”