Wildflower Meadow

Below you can find some impressions from our early wildflower meadow that we grew from seed. It thrived for years 1-3 after seeding and attracted a lot of insects such as butterflies and grasshoppers, as well as birds. The best were the Coreopsis species: Plains Coreopsis and Sand Coreopsis, as well as Zinnia and Cosmos, which are native to Mexico. The diversity diminished after annuals and biennials fizzled out, with non-native Daisies / Foxglove (years 3-4) and native Indian Grass / Showy Goldenrod (from year 5) hanging on the longest. Lately, we are focusing on native perennials and are having quite a bit of luck with Late Figwort (Scrophularia marilandica) and Bee Balm (monarda spp.) in the sunnier areas and native sedges (carex spp.) in the shadier spots. We will be adding Short-Toothed Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum muticum) and Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), which we know do well in other half-sun parts of our garden.