Nell -- LOL, that's what I did with my home-grown seeds this morning! I took my phlox and verbena and just mixed them up. I also took verbena and gaillardia and mixed throughout the butterfly garden. I told my husband that this is either going to look fabulous or terrible!

BTW---I've sown the larkspur. Can I sow cleome on top of those next spring to keep that section in bloom? Will that work? I've already been adding the stick verbena there, too.

Thanks!
Cameron

Hey, Nell and Cameron, I want to see pics of how both of your areas look next year, whatever the outcome! I hope everything comes up! :o)

Sue

In the spring, as early flowers begin to fade, and the weather warms, I just pull out a few plants and scatter seeds in the spaces.

Not everything blooms at once, so you can pull out the earliest while the later ones carry on, and then the summer plants come on in a hurry when it gets hot.

Scattering seeds is such fun. I forgot to put Verbena bonariensis in my hodge-podge mix. They can go along the edge and give structure, LOL.

Nell

I did that last year when I took possession of this house. They all seem to do their own thing at the right time. I did it again last week.

As research, some one needs to donate seeds of Verbena bonariensis .....just to see if they will grow in south central TX. LOL!

Actually that sounds really pretty to me.--Almost like a wildflower mix/meadow. Hurry up spring! :-)

I was just thinking about doing the same thing! I have lots of seeds and want to just fall sow them but was not sure if I should just sprinkle them all over or make rows and plant them with a plan.

I am now thinking about mixing some seeds up and just letting some do their thing.

Did you prepare the soil or cover your seeds? I was wondering if I should cover them or rake them in or something.

I bet it will be pretty all mixed together. Nature does not plant in rows so we should not either. :)

Karen

It depends on the effect you want, Karen. Generally, I like to plant in angled rows, that give the effect of a 'swath' of a single plant. I broke my 'rules' with this planting.

I raked back mulch and scattered seeds in fairly loose soil where I was planting. I didn't cover -- rain will help with that, in case we ever get some again.

Here's a link to pics of a single bed, month by month. Every year is different. In 2007, the lavender lantana was little cuttings that looked as if they would die in the drought. They hung on. Now they've eaten the daylilies, which should recover when the lantana dies back or gets cut back.

Here is a link that might be useful: One Long Rock Bed from April to October

Almost all my annuals self seed, so I don't see why scattering wouldn't work. I looked today and many clarkia and goditia have started growing already. It'll be interesting to see how/if they suvive the winter.

Libby

Year after year I attempt to group plants together but sigh, I can't help it. It's impulsive, I start scattering this and that, and by summer I have mishmash of plants. Although looking somewhat wild, it does look attractive, enough so I get neighbors visiting my yard almost weekly to see what new blooms are coming up.

Ianna

Fingers crossed for you Nell :-) Can't wait to see spring pictures.

I think it will look fabulous and the butterflies should love the mix. They can graze without flying far! Now you can call it the broadcast border.

Cameron, try broadcasting a few spider plant (cleome) seeds too; they have self-seeded for me many times. I just collected the white cleome seeds and left some to fall and tossed some around; brought the rest in for insurance. Over the years, I lost them out. I figure because of digging or tilling the beds which I no longer do.

Nell, post pictures regardless of how you think it turned out, please. I haven't checked out the bed yet but will later this afternoon. I am out mulching the beds; should I say in and out mulching the beds. We had to have a coffee break.

Here's a portion of the wannabe Red Bed, early last Spring when everything was droughty, mostly silene and corn poppies.

Combo of larkspur, corn poppies, nicotiana and California poppies in another bed, spring 2008 -- more plants that should show up next spring:

The weather's changing again to that keen damp wind that makes your joints hurt. There's nothing to photograph except the very first blossoms of the white Camellia sasanqua that you see from me every November, and some red and orange leaves dotted around. When the sun shines and those leaves are backlit, aren't they wonderful? I know all of you had/have some bright leaves, too.

Nell

"The weather's changing again to that keen damp wind that makes your joints hurt."

I'm in pain everyday. At 48 years of age I was diagnosed with arthritis in my hip. Funny enough the pain is in my knee.

Nell, your meadow of flowers is stunning. No wonder why butterflies swarm to your gardens.

Nell,

Love it, love it, love it! You've captured a look that's very popular in Europe right now, called New Wave gardening.

ianna

Absolutely love your flower beds Nell, I hope I can achieve something as nice next year. We had a real downpour the other night, fair to say it was coming down in buckets, now the days are just damp and dreary.

Edna, arthritis pain is the pits, this time of year I keep my good old standby Jasons tea tree oil gel at the ready, kind of odoriferous but who cares it works :o).
Annette

My GS and i did that earlier this year.He was helping me clean out one of my gardening cabinets,and found all these packs of seeds.We dumped them all into a coffee filter(i use these in my pots)mixed them up then spred them through a garden i had cleaned out earlier that week.When it came into bloom it was gorgeous.Had zinnias,malvas,everlastings,clarkia and several others.Loved it.
Kathi

I enjoy walking amid blooms like that, very nice Nell.