Tennessee Wildflowers Come to Buckhorn Inn

Wildflowers are a tremendous asset to pollinators, in addition to looking beautiful.  In fact, we have planted a mini-meadow of wildflowers near our bee hives.  Our seed mix includes perennials, self-seeding annuals, and biennials.  We sowed:  butterfly weed, partridge pea, lance-leaf coreopsis, plains coreopsis, purple coneflower, rattlesnake master, Indian blanket, standing cypress, blazing star, wild lupine, lemon mint, drummond phlox, Mexican hat, clasping coneflower, black-eyed susan, scarlet sage, and spiderwort.

How to Grow Wildflowers

Wildflowers have survived floods and drought, sandy soil and clay, scorching sun and freezing wind, all on their own.  They can be as tenacious as, well, weeds.  As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “What is a weed?  A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.”  So how difficult are they to grow?  As it turns out, they are very adaptable.

Honeybees love black-eyed susans.

We ordered a seed mix specifically designed for our geographic area from http://www.americanmeadows.com.  We selected a sunny site and removed the grass from the soil.  We loosened the dirt and scattered the seeds.  We worked the seeds into the soil by walking on top of them.  The seedlings have emerged.  We will continue to water them until they are about 6″ tall.  After that, Mother Nature will handle the watering!  We hope the first blooms will appear in early summer.  

In late fall, after the flowers have dropped their seeds, we will mow the whole area.  The clippings will stay in place to break down and feed the soil.  

Our meadow should not require chemical fertilizers or herbicides, so they are an eco-friendly option.  If this small experiment works, we may expand our meadow.  There are many advantages to growing wildflowers.  They enrich the soil and require very little mowing–usually only once a year.  Different bloom times guarantee a spectacular show throughout the warm months.  The plants are good for steep slopes where they can stabilize the land and prevent erosion.  

We will be sure to post pictures as our new addition grows and blooms!