Gardening with wildflowers: Why it's important and how to do it

Wildflowers have many benefits to both us and the environment. In this post, we share a wealth of information for bringing more wildflowers into your yard, with advice from Jenny Fortier, a master gardener and owner/operator of Northern Wildflowers near Sudbury.

Why wildflowers?

The most important reason to grow wildflowers is plants that thrive in the wild tend to be more resilient than non-native plants, requiring less water and maintenance once established. They also attract beneficial pollinators such as bees, butterflies, and birds. And…they are beautiful!

So what IS a wildflower?

A wildflower is a plant that grows in wild spaces like forests and meadows. However, many wildflowers native to our area can be grown successfully in your urban or rural yard as well.

FYI: Wildflower and native plant are not interchangeable terms. Some flowers growing in the wild (such as dandelions, chicory, oxeye daisy, Queen Anne’s lace, non-native lupines) were introduced or escaped from gardens. Some are even considered invasive species, meaning they cause harm to ecosystems, people, and/or the economy. Purple loosestrife, periwinkle, goutweed, and Himalayan balsam are all invasive flowering plants you can find in many natural areas in and around Sault Ste. Marie.

Is it ok to grow wildflowers not native to our area? Planting wildflowers that are native to Algoma District is optimal because they support our native insects and birds and have what you might call a “home court” advantage — they and the ecosystem understand each other.

Some examples of wildflowers native to Algoma: Bigleaf aster, black-eyed susan, bloodroot, blue vervain, bluebead lily, bunchberry, common boneset, eastern red columbine, fireweed, lance-leaved coreopsis, large white trillium, New England aster, northern blue flag iris, northern cranesbill, northern evening primrose, spotted Joe-Pye weed, swamp milkweed, tall meadow-rue, wild bergamot, white turtlehead, wood lily, woodland strawberry.

The next best option is to plant wildflowers from other parts of Ontario. There are many wonderful Ontario natives that do well in Algoma and support pollinators, birds, and other wildlife: for example, anise hyssop, black cohosh, blazing star, butterfly milkweed, Culver’s root, false sunflower, great blue lobelia, grey-headed coneflower, Michigan lily, nodding onion, spotted beebalm, and woodland phlox.

The key is to decide what your gardening objectives are and make sure the plants you choose meet those objectives. You may choose to plant some wildflowers not native to our area because you love how they look. But if you wish to maximize the benefit to the environment, go native!

Always verify the native status of any plant you are considering. There’s a lot of misinformation out there about what’s native and what’s not. Even staff at garden centres may not be aware of what’s truly native to our area or even our province.

One helpful source is iNaturalist—click the Explore tab and type Plants into the Species field and Algoma District into the Location field. But be mindful that some of the species listed are not native or are even invasive (and will be labelled as such).

Beware of commercial wildflower seeds!

You know those eye-catching packages of wildflower seeds you see at big box garden centres? They usually contain seeds for annual wildflowers that are not native to Ontario and may not do well here. Consider giving these a pass and seeking seeds for wildflowers that we know grow well here—our native wildflowers.

Wild species vs. cultivars

Many wildflowers have cultivated cousins that are widely available in garden centres. Most cultivars do not harm ecosystems but are less useful to pollinators, birds, and other wildlife.

Columbine cultivars, for example, can be super ruffly so harder for bees to get into to collect pollen. The native red columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) is the best choice if you wish to support native critters.

photo of a wild red columbine and a ruffly pink cultivar — Wild red columbine (above left) is better suited to our native pollinators than the ruffly cultivars (example at above right).

Planning your wildflower garden

We could write an entire book about garden planning, but we’ll keep this short and just touch on some highlights….

Look at your property and break it into habitats based on sunlight, moisture, and soil. Choose wildflowers based on which type of habitat they prefer. Planting sun-loving wildflowers under a large shade tree will lead to disappointment.
Don’t try to do too much at once. Start with one bed and see how it goes.
Make a sketch of which plants will go where, and keep in mind other features you’d like to include (bird baths, feeders, garden statues, bench, etc.).
Group plants in odd numbers—they tend to be more visually pleasing.
Keep in mind how tall and wide plants get so you don’t have to move plants around unnecessarily.
Add some plants with striking leaves (like elderberry) and tall grasses to provide contrast to flowering plants.
Try to choose plants with a variety of colours and bloom times so you have diverse colour from spring through fall.
Create winter interest with tall grasses, shrubs with interesting stems like red osier dogwood, and plants that produce colourful berries.
Share information, experiences, seeds, and plants with friends and neighbours to increase biodiversity (local Facebook gardening groups are a great resource).

Growing wildflowers from seed

Here’s where Jenny Fortier and Northern Wildflowers come into play. This outfit was started as an experiment in growing varieties that thrive in northern gardens and provide habitat for pollinators and other wildlife. Their mission is to help people create a little slice of wildflower paradise. Whether you are looking for seed for your garden or bulk seed for a restoration project, they can help! Check out their seeds here.

Jenny explains that sowing wildflower seeds is not as simple as planting carrots or radishes. To achieve a high rate of success, you must mimic natural processes. Wildflower seeds are used to being released in late summer or early fall, falling to the earth, and then sitting in the cold and snow over winter. They need that period of cold dormancy (known as stratification) to sprout and grow. If you try to sow most wildflowers in the spring as you would carrots (without stratifying first), you will be disappointed (although Northern Wildflowers does have an easy-to-grow collection that requires less fuss).

So…two choices: Sow on the ground in the fall (easier but greater seed loss due to rotting or critters munching them) or treat seeds indoors over the winter and plant in the spring (more work, but you have more control over germination conditions). Check out a Clean North blog post about winter sowing native plants in containers.

Here are links to three of Jenny Fortier’s blog posts to help you understand your native seed planting options and ensure it has the best possible chance of germinating and growing.