Seed Packet Instructions
We recommend watering consistently (2-3 times a week) throughout the first two years of the plants’ lives, although try not to keep them in standing water or in areas that flood often. After the plants have established, they will not require significant watering, except in periods of drought.
Once your pollinator patch grows in, to maintain these native flowers, we recommend the following. If they’re in an area of your property that you don’t mind the aesthetics of, just leave them be. If they’re in a more visible area, you may want to give them a solid pruning in late April-early May, cutting them back when they get tall, but aren’t yet budding. This method, known as the Chelsea chop, helps the plants grow more robust blooms.
Thanks for picking up some native seeds from Arundel Rivers! These seeds will grow into native flowers that support our local pollinators, especially bees, butterflies, and birds.
This is the Ernst Conservation Seeds Mesic to Dry Pollinator Seed Mix Without Grasses, a mixture of over twenty native flower species (including purple coneflower and butterfly milkweed) that we trust and use on our restoration sites often. A little seed goes a long way, and these flowers will generally prefer full to partial sun. These seeds are best sewn outside in the spring or fall in bare soil. If you’re trying to rewild some lawn, you should remove the grass first (you can check out this resource to check out how to site and remove lawn through a few methods. We do not recommend using herbicides, as they can negatively impact waterway health).
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In the late fall/winter, when the plants are going dormant, we do not recommend deadheading the plants (aka cutting them back). The seed heads left on the plants provide valuable, nutritious food sources for overwintering birds and other critters, and the fallen stems and leaves are crucial habitat for the insect friends we rely on to keep our ecosystems functioning.
If you ever have questions about your seeds, or want to send photos of your pollinator patch once it starts growing, email info@arundelrivers.org. Thanks for gardening for our watersheds, and thank you for growing with us!
Your garden will attract bee-loved friends, like this pollinator visiting wild bergamot!