Wildflowers for Year-round Color

by Larry Vierheilig

In any native garden, annual wildflowers always provide accent, color, and diversity. The more varied, the better. Fortunately for us on the Central Coast, there is a wide variety that will flourish under many conditions and different soil types and can provide color year-round. One of the best habits about annual wildflowers is that they reseed making the display, once established, little continuing effort. As with any living ecosystem however, wherever there is food (seed) you have food eaters (California Quail). They especially like the seeds of our Sky Lupine (Lupinus nanus). Last year I spread about 200 seeds of this Lupine into our native garden area. Over the next few days the Quail scoured the area and consumed many seeds, bless their little hearts. Some lupine did germinate, grow, flower, and set seed which the quail promptly ate. Back to the drawing board.

When we think about annual wildflowers, the California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) is probably the most familiar to people. And it is usually the all-orange variety which is actually native to the Central Valley. The poppy for the coastal areas is the variety maritima which has yellow on the outside of the petals with orange blotches on the inside at the base of the petals.

Here is a partial list of annual California wildflowers, by common name, that do well in our area: California Coastal Poppy, Sky Lupine, Purple Clarkia, Elegant Clarkia, Parry’s Phacelia, Tidy Tips, Gold Fields, White Evening Primrose, Bird’s-eye Gilia, Delphinium, Globe Phacelia, Linaria, Cream Cups, Owl’s Clover, Red Maids, Baby Blue Eyes, Godetia, Popcorn Flower, Fiddleneck, White Forget-me-not, Red Ribbons, Chinese Houses, and the list goes on. A list of wildflower seed sources can be found on at the end of this article.

Soil Preparation for Wildflower Seeds

Sand or clay, your soil will need some enhancing. With shovel or rototiller, work a 3 to 4-inch layer of compost (mushroom or your own) or any organic soil amendment into the proposed wildflower area. Water the area well allowing soil to settle and any weeds to germinate. The weeds can be removed with a Hula or Stirrup Hoe. Now for the planting: with a steel-tine garden rake scruff the soil to a depth of 1 inch or more leveling the soil as you progress. Broadcast your seed or seed mix onto the surface as evenly as you can. Best to do this when the wind is not blowing. Then, using the garden rake, lightly scruff the seed into the soil. All the seed I have planted in this manner germinates quite readily even when planted to a depth of 3/8 to 1/2 inch. The shallow covering recommended on some seed packages (1/8 inch) only allows the soil and seed to dry too quickly. After planting, water lightly two to three times per week until germination occurs. After that, a thorough watering once a week is quite adequate.

Best planting time for California wildflowers is in the fall after the first one inch of accumulated rainfall. This should provide moisture into the ultimate root zone for the young plants. Latest time to plant would be the middle of February. After that, weather conditions may change too quickly from cool/wet to warm/dry and the plants will not have had enough time to develop the root system to withstand the non-rainy season weather conditions.

Below is a list of some of the seed companies that carry a few to many native annual wildflower seeds. And don’t forget your local nursery, such as Old Town Nursery in Nipomo, who may be able to special order your seeds.

Redwood City Seed Company
P.O. Box 361
Redwood City, CA 94064
(650) 325-7333

Theodore Payne Foundation
(818) 768-1802

Larner Seeds
P.O. Box 407
Bolinas, CA 94924
(415) 868-9407

Californica
P.O. Box 2583
Petaluma, CA 94953-2583

S&S Seeds
P.O. Box 947
Albany, Oregon 97321-0354
(541) 928-5868