Planting Wildflower Seeds in Texas

I don't know how many times I have been dissapointed to plant seeds in the Fall and in the Spring few if any new plants showed up. So here are a few tips that were published in the "Wildflower" magazine Fall 2009 issue on Planting Wildflower Seeds.

They say there are really only 4 steps to sowing wildflower seeds
1) Remove any existing weeds, grass and break up the soil surface. Broadcast the seeds. I use a little playground sand mixed with the seed to help it spread more evenly. Water until you see sprouts. Try to time your sowing to correspond with incoming storms to enchance germination and reduce supplemental watering.
2) Make sure your seeds are in good contact with the soil, but not buried. They should be no more than 1/4" in the soil.
3) Seeds will germinate better if sown when the temperatures are between 70-80 degrees during the daytime and 40-50 degrees at night. In the Southwest October, November is the best time.
4) If wildlife threatens to eat your seed, then protect them. Using a birdseed block is a good way to form a decoy.

Then after all of your beautiful Spring flowers have stopped blooming. You can collect the dried ripe seeds. Then compost the dried plant parts. Some flowers like poppies need to be covered with a paper bag to collect their seeds before they explode open on their own and go where they want. Save this seed and build up a "seed bank" for your garden. Ready for the next Fall growing season.