Wildflower Garden Plants
In the garden, wildflowers bring charm, and their usefulness in landscape design is as varied as their native habitats. Prairie wildflowers can cover large swaths while Alpines are more suited as specimen plants in the rock garden. Know a flower's habitat when attempting to place it in the garden. Many gardeners find working with wildflowers frustrating, but often this is due to improper plant placement or overuse of fertilizer. Does this Spark an idea?
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Prairie Wildflowers
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Prairie flowers, such as goldenrod, attract beneficial insects. At home in wide-open spaces, prairie wildflowers need full sun, average moisture and good soil.They come in bold colors, such as the deep pink of bee balm, bright yellow of goldenrod or periwinkle blue of flax. Many of these wildflowers feed butterflies and bees and attract beneficial insects that eat common garden pests such as aphids, whiteflies and mites.
Alpine Wildflowers
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Small plants make a big statement in the rock garden. Bringing a plant that has adapted to cycles of ice, snow, wind and drought into the safe haven of a home garden is challenging. Site preparation is crucial, taking great care to get the right soil conditions. Some difficult Alpines grow more successfully in containers where soil mixes can be custom designed. Easy and satisfying Alpines for a rock garden setting with average garden soil include lewisia, Alpine penstemon and creeping phlox.
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Woodland Wildflowers
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A healthy patch of lady's slippers in a wildflower garden. Wild ginger, Dutchman's breeches and columbine are all associated with the dappled and deep shade of the forest understory. If your garden has some cool, shady spots, try Jack-in-the-pulpit along the border. For a challenge, try nestling trillium or lady's slipper among a low-growing groundcover to highlight their spectacular blooms.
Wetland Wildflowers
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Foxglove offers color, height and texture to wet-garden design. If your garden has a spot that seems to stay soggy year-round, consider it an opportunity to experiment with wetland wildflowers. Purple camas blooms or pink and white foxglove spikes can bring color and texture to an otherwise difficult area of the garden. For something truly unique, cultivate a patch of carnivorous bog plants such as cobra lilies or pitcher plants.
Arid Wildflowers
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In places where irrigation water is scarce, replace lawns with drought-tolerant wildflowers. Once established, yarrow, Mexican hat, California bluebell and cornflower provide color with little supplemental watering.
Wildflowers to Avoid
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Not all wildflowers behave in the garden. Know what plants become invasive in rich soil and adequate water. Even locally native species may become a management challenge if they self-sow in great quantity. In a large, naturalistic planting, this may be welcome; in a small garden, it amounts to hours of self-inflicted weeding.
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