Invasive?

Does anyone know if any of the seeds listed on this wildflower box could be invasive? It was given to me by a friend. Heres a picture of the back of the box.

Your bag claims it is a WildFlower Mix not a Native Flower Mix so most of the seeds in the mix will be aggressive or weedy and possibly even invasive because Wildflower Mixes are meant to colonize. Good for you for spotting that and asking!

Pheasants Eye (Adonis aestivalis) is indigenous to Europe and contains cardenolides, I don’t know if it’s invasive or not but if you have any kids or pets, I wouldn’t plant it.

If you tried to look this one up, you would have had problems because they misspelled officinalis on the bag. It’s a Marigold of some sort (Calendula officinalis) and is indigenous to Europe. Some people claim they are weedy and some are claiming it is very aggressive in that it readily self seeds but I don’t think they are listed as invasive anywhere.

Bachelor Buttons (Centaurea cyanus) are in the same genus as Knapweeds as in Russian Knapweed and Spotted Knapweed that sofer was discussing in another thread. Without looking this one up, I am quite confident it will appear on a bunch of lists as being highly invasive. I’ve had personal experiences with this plant and they weren’t positive. The mere presence of that word mix associated with Centaurea makes my knees shake since so many have naturalized.

Cheiranthus… hmmm… they call most of these English or Siberian Wallflowers but I think they’re from the Canary Islands or somewhere out there. I’m not familiar with C. cheiri but looks as if they misspelled it on their bag and all Cheiranthus are from the mustard family. I have no idea if this is invasive or not but it’s probably aggressive. You may want to search the PlantFiles and see what other people have to say about this plant.

Their bag is extremely misleading on the Chrysanthemum which is actually Leucanthemum maximum ‘Shasta’. That’s the good old Shasta Daisy that is naturalizing everywhere just like Ox-Eye Daisy. The straight species is indigenous to Eurasia and Africa. It’s a wildflower here in the US because it is often included in “Wildflower” mixes such as the one you have. Needless to say, most people do exactly what I did when I used a "Wildflower" Mix and assume all Wildflower mixes are native plants so they broadcast the seed on their property.

Tickseed (Coreopsis tinctoria) is indigenous to North America. It’s sunshiny and pretty and all that but it’s quite common and somewhat overused.

Regarding the reference to the Delphinium consolida mix, I have a strange premonition they literally meant Delphinium spp. & Consolida spp. mix. Don’t know enough about what’s really in there to comment.

Sweet William (Dianthus barbaris) is an attractive flower indigenous to Europe and there are reports of it escaping.

Foxglove (Digitalis purpurea) is indigenous to Europe and is a very popular plant that will self seed freely. Probably invasive somewhere.

Echinacea purpurea, Eschscholzia californica, Linum perenne, and Rudbeckia hirta are all indigenous to North America.

Probably another misspelling on the bag because they might be referring to Lupine perennis as Lupinus perenne. Can’t quit figure that one out. Lupine perennis is indigenous to North America though it that's what they meant.

Baby’s Breath (Gypsophila elegans) is right up there with Chinese Forget me nots and burning bushes and all are highly invasive and recognized as same by too many sources to count.

Papaver rhoeas is indigenous to Eurasia and that’s listed as another escapee but again, I don’t know if it shows up as invasive anywhere.

That was awesome of you to share the “Wildflower” Mix back here. Thanks for doing that. Some of the Hummingbird and Butterfly mixes available out there are just as bad and the seed they use is cheap and people get hung up on the wholesomeness of creating a Wildflower or Hummingbird or Butterfly Garden and assume the mix is healthy for the environment and we can see that when someone takes the time to ask, there are issues.

If you want wildflowers, find a patch this summer and harvest the seed. I planted the box you have there and found mostly the lupines wont do here too hot. None of the other biggies here took and all in all I was disappointed, but maybe thankfully so.
Sidney

I'll probably just say hmmm, I planted them but they never came up. LOL I have enough weeds to deal with now and I dont need anymore.

I always select my mix and don't even want to consider using someones mix. Too dangerous. I have many Centaurea seeds I will send you. Not really I don't hate AL that much to ruin its wild areas. Those seeds would grow well in your septic tank I think. Kerrrr Flush.

This is a little tangential, but still relevant I think. Does anyone know of sources (would have to be regional) for bulk native wildflower/grass mixes?

American Seeds has many and I select off their list after research for my area. Of course you don't know what source but you shure get a lot of seeds in 4 oz packets. Cheap too.

Mary,

Prairie Nursery (www.prairienursery.com) and Prairie Moon Nursery (www.prairiemoonnursery.com) will have the seed mixes you're looking for.

We get our native grasses for horse pastures here in Montana at the farm stores. They have several mixes and they come in 50# bags. It is called Murdocks, Farm and Ranch, and Cenex.

Hey MaryMD7,

You might want to initiate contact with some of the people from this organization http://www.mdflora.org/
Ask where they are buying their bulk seed.

I have found the staff ecologists and biologists in my State to have been invaluable resources. Here's a link to your DNR- http://www.dnr.state.md.us/wildlife/nhpintro.asp
http://www.nps.gov/plants/pubs/nativesMD/
They have me on their mailing lists now so I get access to information regarding what State Nurseries have to offer in the way of seedlings and saplings and our State has now realized the importance of local genotype. It is my understanding Maryland is more progressive than Illinois so you might enjoy even greater success than me.

Don't overlook a local Sierra Club Chapter, The Nature Conservancy, or an Audubon Society Chapter. They are doing some phenomenal work out there in all States.

You might also want to contact people here- http://www.wildflower.org/ to see if you can locate nurseries in your area that provide seed.

This group is out there but they cater to a different market- http://www.eqri.com/EQR/texthome/textabouteqr/textnursery.htm I'd still try to contact somebody over there.

Best wishes to you.

MaryMD7,

Equilibrium's offered you some good idea. One of her links makes it very easy. The Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center has a supplier's search. From there you can choose nurseries, and then specify your city and/or state. For some reason the URL is getting cut off, so I'm adding a space after "www." so you can see it as text.

www. wildflower2.org/NPIN/Suppliers/suppliers.html

Lori

Hey! My link must be working again to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center! Their site must have been down for a bit.

Incidentally, the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center promotes native wildflowers not plants that have naturalized.

Love that Lady Bird!!! She's definately my hero. One time she called Lyndon and said "If you want to sleep in my bed tonight, you'll stop those boys from mowing the pastures until after the wildflowers have gone to seed!"
I like her style.
Sidney