Add Color to Your Landscaping With Spring Wildflowers!
Spring is nearly upon us, and besides the warmer temperatures we’ll be experiencing here in Arizona, another telltale sign of the changing seasons will soon be emerging: wildflowers! Wildflowers are an easy and brilliant addition to anyone’s Tucson landscaping, and their bursts of color can transform a dull backyard into one that channels the beauty and unrestrained excitement of nature. Here’s everything you’ll need to know to grow them in your yard!
All About Wildflowers
The most colorful wildflower displays occur when the winter rain is plentiful; if the rain isn’t as heavy during the winter months, the colors of the wildflowers won’t be as vivid. There are over 20,000 species of wildflowers in North America, and they can be found as annuals, perennials, and biennial plants. Wildflowers prefer warm soils between sixty-eight and seventy degrees. The best time to spread the seed is in late fall to early winter, well before the first frost.
How to Incorporate Them Into Your Landscape Design
Wildflower gardens are low-maintenance and require minimal water once established: they grow everywhere, after all, so are easy to maintain. Another plus about wildflowers is the ease of starting a wildflower garden by collecting your own seed. Although wildflower seed can be purchased from local nurseries or seed suppliers on the Internet, they can also be collected from plants at the end of their blooming period in spring, summer, or fall. An easy way to do this is to loosely tie paper bags around the seed head as it is dying out. Punch a few small holes into the bag for air circulation. Gently tap the plants when ready and the seeds will drop into the bag. The best part of this idea is that it’s free!
When planting wildflower seeds, select a site in your garden that drains well, is rich in nutrients and spacious, as wildflowers do not like hard-packed soil. They need a fair amount of moisture and eight hours of sunlight a day. Follow these tips and you’ll have a beautiful wildflower garden in your very own backyard!
There are a ton of options when it comes to creating beautiful Tucson landscaping. Give Horticulture Unlimited a call at (520) 321-4678 to find out how we can transform your backyard. We’ve been helping Southern Arizonans with their landscaping since 1979, and have won dozens of awards for our designs and workmanship!