Growing natives at home
Native wildflowers are not difficult, but almost everything gardeners are taught to do for ornamentals is wrong for them. The commonest way to kill a native is kindness.
Sow in autumn, not spring
This is the one rule that matters more than all the others. These plants evolved around a wet winter and a bone-dry summer. Seed sown in October and November germinates with the first rains, roots deeply through the cool months, and is ready to flower before the ground dries. Seed sown in March produces a weak plant that dies in June.
Nurseries sell native seed in spring because that is when people buy seed. Ignore the timing and buy it whenever you find it, but keep it dry and sow it in the autumn.
If you take away one thing: sow with the first rains and then leave it alone. The plants know what to do next.
Do not improve the soil
Compost, manure and general-purpose fertiliser all favour non-native grasses, which then outcompete everything you planted. Poor, thin, fast-draining soil is what most of these species want. If your ground is heavy clay, the fix is grit and coarse sand, not organic matter.
We have watched more than one carefully prepared, richly composted wildflower bed turn into a stand of wild oats within two seasons.
Watering
Water to establish, then stop. First winter, let the rain do it and supplement only in a genuinely dry spell. First summer, an occasional deep soak for perennials. After that, most established natives want no summer water at all — and several, including many of the bulbs, will rot if they get it.
This is difficult to accept when the plant looks dead in August. Most of them are not dead. They are doing exactly what they do on the hills, which you have watched them do every year.
Species worth starting with
| Species | Type | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| California poppy | Annual | Self-sows readily. Nearly impossible to fail with. |
| Sky lupine | Annual | Scarify seed. Do not transplant — sow where it will grow. |
| Yarrow | Perennial | Tolerant of almost anything, including some summer water. |
| Sticky monkeyflower | Perennial | Wants part shade. Cut back hard after flowering. |
| Coyote mint | Perennial | Needs sharp drainage. Excellent for pollinators. |
| Blue-eyed grass | Perennial | Not a grass. Slow from seed, easy from division. |
Seed sources
Buy from suppliers who state the provenance of their seed. Locally collected stock is adapted to local rainfall and day length, and generally performs better than the same species sourced from three hundred miles south. Several regional native plant societies run autumn sales, which are the best value and the best advice you will find anywhere.
Do not collect from public land. Beyond the permit question, wild populations are often smaller than they look and seed set varies enormously year to year.
Mistakes we made
Planting too densely
Nursery spacing recommendations assume irrigation. Without summer water, plants compete for a much smaller pool of moisture. Give roughly half again the spacing you think you need.
Mulching with bark
Bark mulch holds moisture at the crown, which is precisely where these plants do not want it. Gravel mulch works, looks appropriate, and does not encourage rot.
Tidying up too early
Leaving annuals to go brown and set seed is what produces next year's display. A bed cut back neatly in June is a bed you will have to sow again.