I believe the majority sow their seed in late-fall just before the snows. You also may have had very low germination due to seeds not getting a 'cold-treatment' which naturally occurs if fall-sown. It's possible many of the seeds that did not germinate (for lack of cold-treatment) will do so next spring.
I seeded after Thanskgiving(2003) here and even though we do have wet springs we have virtually get no moisture between late June and November. Supplemental watering was required during that time as seeds can germinate all the way up thru late-summer/early-fall. I don't know how big an area you have, but my area is only 14x60 feet so watering was possible.

Vera

I too had big problems this year from last fall's seeding due to the drought. My wildflower "meadows" reside in many large containers (most 8'x2'x12"high and some larger). This year the fall planted boxes hardly had any new annuals although the perennials from the previous year did OK. Last year I also fall planted a real meadow area at my parent's house and that didn't go so well either. They didn't get the diversity of plants that usually happens from the seed misture I get (American Meadows). I'm blaming that on the drought too. Actually, this year I'm blaming everything that went bad in my garden on the drought. :-)

BTW: I also fall plant on Thanksgiving. I read that you're supposed to seed anytime after a hard freeze and Thanksgiving is a perfect opportunity and it gives you something to do while the turkey is cooking. However, this year we might not get a hard freeze here in Chicago by Thanksgiving so I'm not sure what to do then.

Odd that annuals don't seem to re-seed as early in the northern climes as here. After several seasons of planting annual seed (in September), I find that now they more or less re-seed nicely if I mow everything to a height of 2-3" in late August. Then, by mid-September, one can see germinated seedlings (black-eyed susan, indian blanket, lemon mint, clasping coneflower) that will flower next spring. Although we've had a dry autumn, some of the indian blanket and black-eyed susan seedlings, where not crowded, are now about 3" in diameter.

Oops, just realized why my annuals get an early start in autumn. Seedlings can overwinter in our mild climate, but further north I guess they wouldn't survive the cold winter, frozen ground, etc.

jdown,

The same happens here for me with BES....frozen ground and all! That's just my prairie area, but I've other beds with various annuals that are seedlings by Sept/Oct and then flower next spring...German Chamomile and Clarkia to name a few.

Vera

Mea, go ahead and plant on Thanksgiving. Your seeds will do fine. We are bound to get freezing and thawing before next Spring, which is what some of these seeds require. April

If you do not get a chance to plant on thanksgiving wait until the first snowfall & broadcast the seeds on the snow. Wintersowing in containers is a more controlled setting however as the containers are the perfect environment.

Hi, I am new on here.

Some wildflowers require natives grasses to grow, like Indian Paintbrush for instance. There is some speculation that certain wildflowers are somewhat parasitic, needing these grasses to live. The grasses pumped the nutrients up out of the ground and hold in moisture and the wildflowers are sustained by the grasses. That could be one problem you are having.

Also, packaged wildflower mixtures may have flowers that require different soil types, light needs, & moisture requirements which can occur in a natural meadow but aren't getting in your wildflower-meadow garden, especially if you are using packaged soil mixtures with fertilizers and adding peat humus. Most wildflowers like soils that are more clay and/or alkaline. They won't like the peat and high acid soils. They like wet springs and dry summers. Many even prefer rocky, sandy soils for drainage and to anchor their roots.

~SweetAnnie4u