I have seen areas of wildflowers that were in pasture land that did not get mowed and the flowers returned year after year. I would assume if the plants are wild flowers, they really wouldn't need to be mowed. But I am not an expert on wild flowers by any means. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Mechelle

Have you looked at the Meadows and Prairies Forum?
You can also google for mowing wildflower plot for opinions on mowing.

Please tell us more about your butterfly plot. What kinds of wildflowers? Are you planting grasses as well?
I take it from your statement about not mowing over overwintering pupae that you are planting hosts as well as nectar plants?
When are you planting your seeds, and in which zone 8: PNW, Gulf South or Texas? How did you prepare the planting area?

I ask so many questions because I'm also growing a 'wild' (not true wildflowers, and weedy hosts) butterfly plot, not nearly so big as yours.

Nell

Here is a link that might be useful: Wildflower Plot in Meadows and Prairies

No, foxesearth, I've not looked on that site but I will. Thanks

My fear with the plot is that briars, privet hedge, and youpon will take over. It is a freshly prepared site so there are still many roots and runners underneath the soil. We bulldozed it this winter and had as many stumps removed as possible but unless I use (and I don't even like the word) "ROUNDUP" I know I will have lots of stuff coming back, in fact it already is. So that is why I need to be able to mow.

The wildflowers are coming from a man in Missouri that prepared them exclusively for this area. They are in route and should be here soon. Everything he is sending will bloom. No grasses. I will post the details of whats in the mixture as soon as it arrives.

We will be having a sister plot that will be seeded grasses for the quail. I can ask my husband what will be in it but I know one of the grasses is millet.

we will plant as soon as possible, It's time now. Ed wants to rake it with a rake he attaches to the back of the tractor and then he will use a cultipacker - probably mispelled this- to press the seed into the ground so the rain won't send them to the gulf of mexico. we will sow them by hand but that's no big deal.

No fertilizers or anything, we think they will be hardy enough to make it on their own. we are considering irrigation but are not sure at this point. Thats more and time and expense.

I am in zone 8. We are in the south mississippi area. McComb/Magnolia to be exact.

As for overwintering I know that they will be there in this area even if there is no host plant. Though I'm sure something in there will be a host. Plus you know how they like to crawl off away from the host and that concerns me

I hope I've answered your questions. Let me know. Butterflutter

Very few wildflowers in a prepared seed mixture are likely to be host plants. The only one that I can think of is milkweed, and if MW is indeed in the mix, it'd probably me A. tuberosa, which isn't a preferred host by monarchs. Even if they did use it, monarchs don't overwinter as chrysalids.
The only other low growing plants that might come up there on their own and be used as host plants would be Agalinis (buckeyes) and cudweed (American ladies) but I never find their overwintering chrysalids on their host plants or anywhere around them. They both go through their instars quickly and emerge quickly from the chrysalis, so I assume they move on to points south in fall and repopulate this area each spring. The chances of other caterpillars crawling onto low growing plants from neighboring trees or bushes is pretty remote - cats usually chose more substantial places than that to pupate.
I've got a narrow but fairly long strip up by the main road that we mow in the late fall after all the seeds have dropped. If I know there has been caterpillar activity there - Agalinis and Gnaphalium obtusifolium grow there - I check it out before we mow, but I've never found anything.
If I were you, I'd mow it in late spring.
Sherry

I meant to say, I'd mow it in late FALL.
Sherry

Sherry, your long strip brings me to something I've read a little bit about: Corridors. The new host site nee flower bed that I planted is kind of isolated from all the other butterfly activity (nectar flower beds) here. I'm thinking butterflies have sense enough to find if it is there -- I've already had visitors with nothing blooming but toadflax -- but I wondered about it. They don't have to fly through any woods, just turn right at the big pecan trees.

Butterflutter, I'm thinking you may have to mow twice; once in early spring and again late fall, to get the intruders. Some sites even advocate burning.

I'm eager to see what is in your mix, since it is for post-frost sowing instead of fall sowing. I found a tiny bit of Silkgrass (Pityopsis graminifolia) and Elephantapus seeds the other day that I'd tucked away. I wondered if it was a good time to plant it.

Nell

Thanks for your replies. I hadn't really thought about there not being any host plants in the mixture so that is a relief. I think I will mow in the fall and see if that holds until spring. If not then I'll do it again.

Miss Sherri, has your buttonbush started to bud yet? I a little concerned about mine. This is the first year for it to go through the winter at my house and i don't have any buds yet.

Here is a partial list of the wild flowers. The perennials are: Lead plant, blue star, showy milkweed, new england aster, wild indigo, bush's poppy mallow, lanceleaf coreopsis, purple prairie clover, coneflowers, rattlesnake master, blanket flower, maximillian sunflower, ox-eye daisy, roundhead bushclover, gay feather, spiked gay feather, lupine, bergamot, wild quinine, foxglove beardtongue, mexican hat, black eyed susan, prairie dock, and golden alexander.

I hope they will all grow here.

I hope they all grow for you, too!
My buttonbush has just recently started to leaf out. Every year I think it's dead, because it's so slow to bud, and it has those dark branches that look dead. But every year (so far) it eventually comes back, and once it gets going, it grows like a weed - mine has gotten huge!
Yours will undoubtedly be greening up very soon.
Sherry

Many of them are familiar, we may know the rest by other names. You may know Golden Alexander as Zizia aurea. Some like wild indigo may take a few years to make blossoms. My wild indigo, now about 4 years old is now blooming for the first time. It was a gift plant, not seed.

I saw a Red Spotted Purple this morning, posing on boxwood. It flew off when I returned with a camera.

Nell

You have host plants among your seeds. So you will definitely want to wait until late fall to mow. The one plant that might have overwintering larvae is the wild indigo.

My Buttonbush has not shown any new growth yet, either. They seem to be late to break dormancy.