Your story sounds like the typical results of the 'meadow in a can' seed mix. These are sold as if they were magic powder: just sprinkle, water, and wait for the beautiful results. The reality is quite different.

These seed mixes are dominated by annuals that give the sort of first-year floral display that you saw. Some of the annuals, like your poppies, may even re-seed successfully for the second year. But by then, the weeds have gotten a foothold, and there is little or nothing to out-compete the weeds.

There are two things that you can do to help assure the success of a seeded meadow planting. One is to get the right type of seed mix -- dominated by perennials and grasses that are adapted to your region and site conditions. But just as important is site preparation, to eliminate as many competitors for your desirable seedlings. (OK, there is a third critical thing: removing weeds and other invaders by weeding, cutting, or mowing during the time the meadow perennials are getting established).

The best advice for what to do with your 'meadow' is probably to kill it all and start over. It is usually recommended to spray a site with roundup (or generic glyphosate) herbicide several times over the course of a growing season before seeding in the fall or winter. If you search through posts on this forum, you will find lots of advice about how to go about this process, including site preparation, where to find good native seed mixes, and how to plant and nurture your meadow seedlings. There are also numerous books on the subject that can give you advice and inspiration.

I hope your bad experience doesn't discourage you from trying again. Planting and improving a native meadow garden has lots of advantages (esthetic, ecological, and economic) over traditional landscaping practices, and it can become a fantastic hobby (be forewarned!).

Good luck!

Thee are some good prairie and meadow sites, which can be easily found through Googe

Here's one company that can supply native wildflowers that should do well in your area:

Here is a link that might be useful: Western Native Seed

Meadow flower seed mixes can be great but need to be viewed as a yearly thing, not a way to establish a self sustaining meadow. You can mow in early spring and reseed again with a meadow mix each year, or you can mow, till lightly, mow and then seed native/noninvasive exotic forbs (wildflowers) with lots and lots and lots of grass seed and that can, with management, become a solid meadow. The grass won't be visible the first but will grow and help suppress weeds.

CJ

After reading your responses, I had to go back and reread my msg to see if I said anything about weeds. I did not because they are not a problem. Also the bag of seed was made here in Denver with wildflowers native to this area. My question was: as plants die and look brown and ugly even though new ones are beginning to flower, do I pull out the dead or just cut down? Sorry if I was not clear before.

I apologize -- it certainly seems we read too much into your post. To answer your question, in an area as small as yours is it certainly possible to 'deadhead' flowers after they bloom. This will tend to keep the area looking neat, but it will also remove ripe seeds that might contribute to re-seeding the area for future years.

I usually leave flower heads and dried foliage in my plots through the winter, as some of the seeds are eaten by birds. Dried grass stalks are actually very beautiful in winter. Yes, it looks a little messy at times, but I try to make sure that there are a good number of green and blooming plants throughout the growing season. I usually weed-whack the area in later winter (February or so) to allow more sunshine to warm the soil and stimulate the new growth.