How to Grow Desert Wildflowers (the Easy Way)

Growing wildflowers from seeds is an economical and rewarding way to bring life into your desert garden. Here’s how to replicate that beauty in your garden. First, let’s look at the hard way to grow wildflowers, which many gardeners find discouraging.

Growing Wildflowers the Hard Way

If you look at instructions for planting desert wildflowers, they usually go something like this:

• Select a sunny spot and remove weeds, mulch, and gravel.
• Turn the first few inches of soil.
• Mix the seeds with a little sand or soil, sprinkle them on the prepared soil, and rake them in.
• Cover with mulch or compost.
• Spread twigs, leaves, and/or chicken wire over the area to protect them.
• Water immediately and continue to water daily until they sprout.
• After they sprout, water once a week.

I don’t know about you, but I think that sounds like a lot of work. Especially compared to how nature does it.

Growing Wildflowers the Easy Way

In nature, wildflower seeds are dispersed by gravity, wind, water, and animals, or are propelled by the plant (such as exploding seed pods). If a seed lands in a spot that meets its requirements, it will sprout and grow into a plant that lives to flower, go to seed, and repeat the cycle with no human intervention.

I like to emulate nature. I scatter seeds on the ground in spots that I think will meet their basic requirements and where I would like them to grow. I water the seeds immediately after sowing to help them make contact with the ground and prevent them from blowing away.

Sowing seeds on gravel actually helps seeds by providing nooks for them to settle. They are less likely to be blown or washed away or get eaten by birds than seeds sown on bare dirt. If you have bare, hard-pan soil, it will pay to rough up the soil a bit first.

One extra step you can take to increase germination rates is scarification. Put seeds in a jar with play sand and shake. You can then sprinkle this mixture on the ground. Mixing seeds with sand also makes them easier to sow.

Burying seeds too deep is the most common mistake gardeners make.
Wildflower seeds need light to germinate.

That’s it.

If there’s sufficient rain, your wildflower seeds should germinate. If rains are scarce, you can water occasionally, just enough to mimic the rains you would normally have.

Don’t expect terrific germination rates. Unlike cultivated plants that are selected for desirable traits, including high germination rates, wildflowers sprout only when conditions are just right for their survival. Seeds can lie dormant in the ground for years, and sometimes it takes more than one year for wildflowers to sprout.

Once seeds germinate, water every few weeks if rainfall is below average. Be the rain. Look around and take your cue from nature. If you see wildflowers thriving along roadsides or hiking trails, that’s a sign that nature is providing sufficient water.

Wildflowers grow where and when they want to grow!

When to Sow Wildflower Seeds

When to sow wildflower seeds depends on the species. There are two distinct types of wildflowers in the desert — cool season and warm season wildflowers.

Any wildflower that blooms during the spectacular spring wildflower display is a cool season wildflower, and its seeds should be sown in the fall. The germination of these seeds is dependent on winter rains. Most Sonoran Desert wildflowers are cool season, such as desert bluebells, desert marigolds, California poppy, globe mallow, and Parry’s penstemon.

Cool season wildflower seeds can be sown anytime between October and February. Some gardeners like to succession sow to extend the bloom season and increase chances of success.

There’s another wave of flowers that bloom in the summer. These warm season or “monsoon wildflower” seeds should be sown late in the spring, shortly before the monsoon rains begin — in June and July. The germination of these seeds is dependent on monsoon rains. Wildflowers that fall into this category include Arizona poppy, desert senna, and sacred datura.

One of the most impressive wildflowers, wild sunflower (Helianthus annuus), doesn’t neatly fall into either category. Seeds for this large annual can be sown any time after the last frost date through August. Many gardeners plant seeds in succession throughout spring and summer for continuous blooms from summer through the first frost.

Wildflowers can be annuals (desert bluebell, Mexican poppy, lupine, wild sunflower), perennials (penstemon, desert marigold, sacred datura), or even shrubs (globemallow, brittlebush).

Caution!
Never put down pre-emergent if you want to grow wildflowers.
It prevents seeds of all kinds from germinating — both weeds and wildflowers.

Where to Buy Wildflower Seeds

Fortunately, it’s not hard to find desert wildflower seeds.

Native Seeds/SEARCH is a not-for-profit organization that specializes in seeds of the desert Southwest, both edibles and wildflowers. They’ll ship them to you, or you can arrange to pick them up if you’re in Tucson. You can also buy their seeds at Spadefoot Nursery in Tucson.

Borderlands Nursery & Seeds in Patagonia, AZ, offers a somewhat different selection and also ships seeds.

Most Ace Hardware stores carry wildflower seeds packaged by The Native Seed Company. (But skip their Pure Daisy mix, which contains African daisy seeds.) If you’re visiting Tohono Chul or Tucson Botanical Garden, you can pick up wildflower seeds there, as well.

You can find a surprising variety of desert wildflower seeds on Amazon. Everwilde Farms, a California-based seed company, offers these Southwest wildflower seeds and more: desert marigold, desert bluebell, globe mallow, California poppy, wild sunflower, Mexican sunflower, Palmer’s penstemon, firecracker penstemon.

Where to Find Free Seeds

If you’re gardening on a budget, here are some sources of free seeds.

If you’re in Tucson, the Pima County library system has a free seed library for cardholders. You can check their seed selection online and place a hold, just like you do for books.

If you live in Phoenix, Maricopa Community Colleges also operates a native seed library that carries seeds for a wide range of annuals, perennials, shrubs, and trees. The Glendale Public Library system has a small selection of wildflower seeds as well.

Check with your local library system to see if they have a seed library. Many do.

Harvesting Seeds

You can also gather your own seeds, provided you do it responsibly. Please see A Guide to Collecting and Growing Sonoran Desert Wildflowers. This brochure published by the Native Arizona Plant Society will tell you everything you need to know about collecting wildflower seeds.

Warning!
When buying a desert wildflower mix, read the label carefully.
Some contain seeds from non-native species,
such as the potentially invasive African daisy.

Can You Plant Wildflower Transplants?

Some nurseries, especially local nurseries that specialize in native plants, carry wildflower plants. However, wildflowers generally don’t like having their roots disturbed or being transplanted. (This is one of the many reasons why you should never dig up wildflowers in the wild to transplant at home.)

One year I did an experiment and planted wildflower seeds and transplants. The plants that started from seeds performed better in every way. The seedlings quickly caught up in size to the transplants and went on to produce more flowers, be more drought-tolerant, be more vigorous, and live longer. Plus, plants started from seed were virtually free compared to $10 to $15 per plant.

Weed or Wildflower: What to Pull? What to Keep?

We’ve all had the experience of seeing a sprout and being unsure whether it’s a treasured wildflower or an unwanted weed.

There are many resources — books, apps, websites, and such — that will help you identify mature plants, but there is little help available if you are trying to ID a seedling.

Here are a few resources that may help. Some of these references are meant for specific states or areas, but hopefully you’ll find overlap with plants that grow in your area, too.

• Arizona Native Plants Seedling Identification Pocket Guide
• Identifying Wildflower Seedlings
• Seedling Identification Guide for Pollinator Forbs of California’s Central Valley
• Wildflower Identification: 10 Common Seedlings to Know!

Wildflowers vs Your HOA

If you live in a community with an HOA, they may balk at wildflowers. They may not understand the difference between wildflowers and weeds. They may challenge that your yard “looks like a jungle”. The key to their acceptance is to make your wildflowers look like an intentional design feature, rather than a bunch of random plants that could be mistaken for weeds. The National Wildlife Federation has tips on how to make your wildflower garden look intentional to avoid the wrath of your neighbors or HOA.

If you’re willing to go a step further and educate your HOA, I recommend this webinar sponsored by WildOnes.org — How to Talk to Your Neighbors (and Your HOA) About Your Garden. Author and activist Lorraine Johnson presents a lesson on how to respond to an HOA complaint or bylaw challenge, and how to address neighbor concerns about native plant gardening.

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Photo Image

Terry Lucas, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons