Why should I sow wildflower seeds?

When is the best time to sow wildflower seeds?

There are two key times for sowing wildflower seeds, these are from mid-March to mid-May and mid-September to the end of October. If the soil is warm enough and wet enough with no additional frost or flooding added into the mix – then your wildflower seeds will germinate. People often ask, "why should I sow wildflower seeds" and the answer is simple - they will benefit birds, bees and insects when they bloom.

Wildflowers provide food for bees and butterflies, and other insects

Adding wildflowers to even just a tiny area of your garden provides more food for pollinators like bees and butterflies, and other insects. The more wildflowers you add to your garden, the richer in biodiversity your local area will be. You will be helping nature and you will also have a beautiful wildflower meadow close to your house.

We have seed mixes that we blended specifically to benefit Bees & Pollinators. Likewise, our Flowering Meadows seed mix also offers a superb habitat for bees and bugs. And we have a wide range of wildflower seed mixes that are a great addition to any garden style or soil type.

Attract a wide range of wild birds to your garden

While birds will benefit from the addition of wildflowers to your garden, it is also a good idea to add feeders, nesting boxes or a bird bath. It's true that adding wildflowers draws more pollinators and insects which birds will feed off, but by adding a few extra accessories, you will be further expanding the biodiversity of your garden.

4 things to consider when sowing wildflower seeds

Consistent temperatures above 10°Celcius

• Ideally, you need consistent temperatures above 10°Celcius day and night for a few weeks. This is essential for the seed’s germination.

Be wary of frost and cold evenings

• You need to avoid frost! When sowing seed in Autumn, warmer days with colder nights are common. The perfect daytime temperatures could be far from perfect in the early morning hours. Situations like this could kill your seedlings.

Let nature do the watering

• Having enough moisture is essential for the wildflower seeds to grow. We advise waiting for nature to do its bit when growing wildflowers. However, it is a good idea to water the new seeds if you’re not expecting much rainfall in your area.

Don’t sow the seed too deep

• Wildflower seed is generally quite small, and for this reason, it’s important that it is not buried too deep. The best advice we can give when sowing wildflower seed is that it should be sown on top, raked lightly and then firmed in by either using a roller or by walking over it carefully. This process pushes the seed into the ground and does not bury it too deep.

Wildflower seeds can be planted anytime

Wildflower seeds are hardy. So much so that they can be planted at virtually any time of the year. If temperature, watering, and sowing depth are all adhered to (as discussed above), then the seeds will bloom in around 60-80 days. Be aware that your newly planted wildflower seeds may not bloom until after their first winter season.

The best time to sow wildflower seeds is Autumn

We love to plant our own wildflower seeds during the autumn months since they will bloom early next spring. If you would like some detailed advice on sowing wildflower seeds, we have a detailed guide on how and when to sow.

Why is autumn the best time to plant wildflower seeds?

Planting wildflower seeds during autumn gives you the earliest display of wildflowers the following year. Additionally, autumn’s weather in the U.K. tends to be damp, which enables nature to do most of the watering for you! We have talked about the benefits of planting wildflower seeds in autumn previously in another blog post.

Not only does sowing this time of year give you an early bloom the following year, but the wet weather helps germination and there is less wildlife around to damage your seedlings. Common questions that we often hear and that we have blog posts answering are “can you just throw wildflower seeds?” and “can I sow wildflower seeds in Autumn?”.

Sowing some wildflower seeds in your garden will give your local wildlife extra food and a diverse habitat to return to. It also offers coverage from predators and encourages smaller animals to call your garden home.