3 Wildflowers Advice Perennials The majority of wildflower species are perennial. Perennial species are ones which re-establish in the spring from their own rootstock. Most species will germinate from seed in year one, flower and produce seed in year two, go dormant over the winter and re-establish in the spring. Some perennials are short lived, only lasting for three to four years, whereas some species can survive for many years. Example species: Knapweed, Cowslip, Field Scabious. Yellow Rattle Yellow Rattle is an interesting plant because it survives by drawing its nutrients directly from the roots of surrounding grass plants. This is useful because it helps to reduce the vigour of the surrounding grass plants, allowing more opportunity for other flower species to emerge and thrive. This makes it a key component of the majority of flower-rich grasslands. It is an annual plant; however, it will happily reestablish itself in a mature sward unlike most other annual species. Sourcing seed Wildflower seed is produced in two different ways: Wild meadow collection Wild meadow collection is when seed is directly harvested from an area of wild, unimproved grassland. The sites harvested are ones which have never been knowingly altered by being sown with native species. The sites are harvested with the permission of the owner and care is taken to monitor the sites to ensure that the harvesting has no detrimental effect. The harvesting is normally done with a machine called a brush harvester or with a very small combine harvester. Meadows can be harvested at differing times of the year in order to target different species. Two of the main species harvested directly from meadows are Yellow Rattle and Meadow Buttercup as these both mature and set seed from July. Field crops In order to produce a reliable and sustainable source of seed, wild collected seed can be field sown to create a manageable crop. Some species are quite slow to establish, so these are grown as individual plug plants which are then mechanically planted in the field. This creates a crop that can be managed by regular weeding and harvested at exactly the right time.
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