Need to find bulk (5 lbs) butterfly friendly seeds

Okay ya'll....I need your help. Am on a quest to find a reasonably priced source that sells butterfly friendly seeds in a mixed bulk amount. So far the cheapest I've come across is Groco Seeds - that sells 5 pounds of wildflower mix (not necessarily all butterfly friendly) for $65 plus another $10 for shipping.

I've scoured the internet and most places sell bulk seeds for $20 or so dollars per pound up to $150 for a 5 pound mix!

Does anyone here know of a place that offers a comparable price? Am looking for at least 5 pounds worth....and hopefully all butterfly friendly seeds.

I really do want to toss gobs and gobs of seeds out into the back pastures at the ranch. We've suffered from a terrible drought so the plants should be native or at least drought tolerant.

However, we finally got the windmill up and running and it's on the way to filling up the pond again. If I can plow up an area near the pond am figuring my brother and I can come up with a method for getting them watered using a pump or something to draw water from the pond.

Other than that I don't know what to do...have already tried to trade for bulk amounts as well as mooch off old seeds for postage in the seed/plant exchange but have no takers.

~ Cat

How many square ft do you want to cover with 5lbs of seeds?

Cat, I have many (and I do mean many) brown paper lunch bags filled with various seed heads. I just can't find the time to seperate the chaff from the seeds so they are all still in the dried blooms. I'll be more than happy to send them to you if it would help you. I hate to even mention it since it's so much work involved in seperating the seeds. I even thought about laying all the bags out in a row and then taking my golf cart and just drive over all the bags. LOL

Cat, Native American Seed and Wildseed Farms are excellent sources of wildflower seed. They are about the cheapest and most reliable wildflower seed sellers you'll find. Now for the down side. Fall (around October) is the time to plant spring blooming wildflower seeds here in Texas. They germinate in the warm fall soil, overwinter as small rosettes growing close to the ground, then growing rapidly in late February they are blooming in March and April here in Fayette County and other counties around Austin. Instead of mixes, you could buy individual varieties of summer blooming wildflowers.

Wildseed Farms' website and seed catalog is loaded with information on best planting times. There are quite a number of seeds that are supposed to be planted after the last frost date. So those would be ideal for you.

One thing I like about Native American Seed is that they also offer native grass seed most of which is supposed to be planted in the spring. I would like to establish small patches of native grasses in our pastures. We still have a variety of native grasses in three of our pastures and have noticed that the cattle prefer them to the Bermuda grass we have. It is also a cheaper alternative to Tifton 85 as far as being palatable to the cattle and it doesn't have to be sprigged. They also sell grass/wildflower seed mixes for spring planting.

The drought of 2005 - 6 was definitely bad for us as well although I believe our part of the state fared slightly better than yours.
http://www.wildseedfarms.com/
http://www.seedsource.com/

I already have about 4 pounds of seeds I've collected locally and have traded for...but I want more because I want to sow seeds around the perimeter of several pastures. The area covers about 100 acres but I don't plan to fill the area with seeds but rather plow up about a six to twelve foot path along the fence line and another row along the road that circles that pastures. I also want to plant 'clumps' or do a mass planting in the corners of the pastures and plow up a few rows near the pond and plow up another few patches throughout the property. Am hoping over time the flowers will re-seed and continue to fill the property.

We have a section of about 45 acres fenced off that holds boer goats so I won't be planting in that...dratted goats eat everything :o)

The land between the dirt road and fenceline usually has native flowers and weeds growing but it is usually waltheria indica (yellow blooms), wild sunflowers (yellow blooms) and a native monarda (I think) which doesn't attract butterflies - just bees and beetles). Am wanting to plant better nectar source and color.

~ Cat

ps...Cordeledawg...you have d-mail

Cat,
Can you use some Mexican Hat seeds? I have about 3 half sandwich bags full of seeds that I've taken apart and another 6 inch bag full of heads with seeds that have just been cut off still whole.

Antoinette

Antoinette...if it is the yellow and red looking Mexican hat we already have those growing wild out there...they grow in large clumps and nothing eats them...have never seen butterflies on them either. There are several huge patches of it that we plan to dig up and burn.

~ Cat

Oh my goodness, I did not know that! They are so expensive to purchase too. Maybe you could pot them up and sell them around or better yet, trade them.

This is the one I'm talking about...it is a native plant here.

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/814/

~ Cat

Cat, I've got a box of seed heads in individual paper bags ready to ship out to you. They include:
Gaillardia 'Goblin' (short red & yellow)
Gaillardia "Golden Goblin (medium tall solid yellow) butterflies stayed on this one
Echinacea purpurea 'White Swan'
West Texas Mist Flower
Rudbeckia
Poppy
Shasta Daisy
Coreopsis (very tall orange)
Coreopsis (yellow)
Mexican Sunflower
Mexican Milkweed Asclepias curassavica (no fluff, I had already seperated)
Several packages and cans of wildflower mixes
Verbena bonairensis
Coreopsis dwarf red plains
Zinnias
others probably but I forgot what they are. The box is already sealed up when I decided to post this.
I do hope other folks will save their seed heads for you this coming year. I know I will be.
What you are doing is so exciting. I'm sure it may take a couple of years to really get your meadow strip along your fences established and will need many seeds to accomplish this.

Good luck to you!

Deborah

edited to add two more I remembered. LOL

This message was edited Jan 16, 2008 8:17 PM

Cat, I always have more seeds than I can use so I'll collect and mail them to you.

Rox

Deborah,

Many thanks!!! That is a wonderful selection of seeds. You will be making lots of butterflies happy.

Rox...thank you too!!! Ya'll are the greatest!!!

Do hope everything grows and blooms so I can have lots of butterfly photos to post :o) Who knows...I might get a new US record sighting out of it!!!

If ya'll want me to send postage or a plant trade...do let me know :o)

~ Cat

Cat,
I just saw this and thought you may want to take a peek. I did not read it all because I was afraid it would close so I don't know which flowerseeds they have... co-op on bulk seed

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/793992/

Gourd,

Thanks...I've d-mailed 4paws...so do hope it's still open and I can hop on board!!!

~ Cat

Found Texas BlueBonnets 5 lbs for $62.00 several other wildflower selections you may want to take a look at. http://www.texasbluebonnetseeds.com/orderform.htm

The site doesn't say whether the seed is scarified. Initial germination for bluebonnets is low unless it is scarified. Wildseed Farms scarify their bluebonnet seed.

Very good point. With their namesake, you'd think they would sell the seeds perfectly ready for anyone, especially Texasans, to sow.

Didn't even know that about bluebonnet seeds! Am so used to just seeing them show up in the yard and back pastures in small patches here and there. Kept meaning to harvest them or use the mower on them with the grass catcher bag...just never made the time.

I was able to purchase a bulk amount of wildflower seed mix that were a couple of years old from Groco Seeds on ebay...the seeds should still be viable...but will look into that website. Really wish I could find a source for individual seed varieties in bulk amounts...like one pound of purple coneflower, sage, zinnias and cosmos etc. :o)

Heck...am going for any and all seeds - now if only the weather would cooperate and rain more often to give them all a good chance to germinate and grow!

~ Cat

Well I'm on a 2008 mission to collect my individual wildflower seeds for your ranch. I did send you a box of seedheads via regular snail mail a few days ago. You should get it one day next week. Don't reimburse me for postage though. Picking your brain on this forum has meant it's weight in gold to me.

Cat, visit the links to Native American Seed and Wildseed Farms I provided earlier. They sell bulk seed of individual varieties.

Cat... Was at Walmart the other day and they have like 5 pound boxes of wildflower seed assorted. Didn't look to se e all what kind was in it. Think it was 20 bucks for the whole huge box.

next time I go to Walmart if your walmart doesn't sell it , I cna findout what the mixture is for ya and see if ya want that.

Thanks Cordeledawg :o) I'll be checking my mail when I get home at night.

Starlight...I've seen boxes of seeds from Walmart and other local garden nurseries but those are mainly filler - I want 100% seeds or seeds from garden members that have a little chaff are no problem. My brother brought over a couple of boxes he had in his garage and never got around to planting. I read the labels - lots of filler. Am still going to use it but if I'm going to be forking over big bucks...I want to pay for seed not perlite or whatever that filler stuff is made out of :o)

Was able to contact GrocoSeeds and make a deal for several pounds of pure seeds. So that will help me out tremendously.

~ Cat

Have you checked the "Bulk Seeds" section on www.swallowtailgardenseeds.com ?

Melanie

And check this guy, he's always got a huge list of seeds. http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/BulkSeed.htm

This message was edited Jan 20, 2008 7:56 PM

Wow! TPP

Your project sounds so interesting and fun! I hope you keep us posted on your progress and results!

TexasPuddyPrint
I've been searching the internet for for some hard to find east texas plants and have recently seen several sources that sell in bulk. However, the only one I remember is www.hazzardswholesaleseeds.com. They do sell to individuals. One thing you might aslo think about are the various clovers and alfafas. They host several butterflies and several butterfiles use them for nectar. This was my first year to plant a few pots of various types and I always saw several butterflies on the blooms and saw several cats on them. I'm in the Valley one week a month for the past 10 years and don't recall seeing clover growing but surely it's down there. I guess you also realize that the finest Mexican food in the US in located in the Valley in Harlingen and that is Los Asasis.
Jameso

Cat,

Would you be interested in some seed for vines to grow on the fences? I know you have lots of morning glories because we did a trade a while back for some yellow ones. So you might have enough vines...

I have seeds from a vine that attract butterflies and are drought tolerant for me. However, they are common and you may already have them. (Cardinal Climber) If you don't I will be more than happy to send some, no trade no postage required. I have what I consider large amounts, but they are by no means enough to measure in lbs. But they make LOTS more seeds each year. These are fresh from my vines this year. Let me know by d-mail if you want them. I use my d-nmails as reminders for sending out.

Carol

Carol,

Sounds good. I'll send d-mail.

James...

I don't recognize that name. I've been to one called Los Asados a few times when visiting Harlingen - it's supposed to be one of the top restaurants and my relatives really enjoy it but it didn't do much for me. Maybe it's just my taste buds but I haven't found a Mexican restaurant in the valley that I'd want to hit up every couple of days...and yes, we're full of restaurants. Guess the one that sates my taste for Mexican food when I get a hankering for Mexican food would be Costa Mesa in McAllen...and I go to that maybe twice a month at the most.

Will check out that website. Am looking for clover too...it will be good for the deer out there.

~ Cat

ps...yikes!!! I couldn't find a hazzards wholesale seeds but I did find a hazzards greenhouse. Criminy!!! They want $60 for a pound of wildflower seeds???

Dang...I think I hit my head when I hit the floor :o) I'm better off with Groco Seeds....they sell five pounds of pure seed for that price. Well, aside from ordering from Groco I'll stick to trades...just can see myself paying that much money for flowers seeds that often times grow abundantly. I've also contacted one of our local butterfly park gardeners...he's going to collect some seeds for me from whatever's gone to see there.

~ Cat

I'll get them ready. Last year I had DH just toss some out by the fence and they came up and bloomed all summer. I was my first time to grow them, and we did not water them at all because they are too far from hoses. I collected seeds twice till I got tired and there were lots more left than what I collected!

Ya'll are the bestest!!! Thanks for all the wonderful offers. Can't wait for the seeds to arrive. I didn't get out to the ranch this weekend (housework accumulated here - UGH!) Am hoping the order from Groco will come in this week as well as everyone's kind offer. Am itching to plow up the back pasture!!!!

~ Cat

Cat, before you forget about ordering from the more expensive sellers and get the Groco seed, consider what plant seeds are in the mix. Greco's mix has only 2 natives. The rest are garden varieties and European natives that have naturalized in the US. If you are looking for "butterfly friendly" flowers, see if the varieties listed in the mix are butterfly friendly. You may also want to check to see if any are perennials or self seed easily.

Oops, I see you have already ordered the mix.

Yes, I already ordered the mix from Groco. I had purchased a pound of it last year and tossed it in the front yard at the ranch. They did wonders at attracting butterflies...but alas, they got periodically mowed down by Dad and his riding lawnmower :o) Hopefully some would have gone to seed and will show up again this Spring. I know the hybrids and non-natives may not survive but am also hoping some will go to seed and continue the cycle. If nothing else, I might have lots of seeds I can harvest and trade on.

Am positive with some periodic rain any seeds I sow out in the back pasture will do just fine. Nobody will be mowing that area :o) I guess I should stick to natives but figured I can cheat since it's private property. I can plant whatever I want - it's for my own personal enjoyment and am in it to attract butterfly by hook or crook :o)

Guess if it does attract a rare species and the local lepidopterists get wind of it...I'll have lots of explaining to do :o)

I do plan to purchase about fifty gallon pots of eupatorium, white plumbago, turks cap and other native plants closer to Spring from a local nursery and mass plant them in small patches. Am waiting until the area around the pond is fixed up before I invest in plants. Also not sure if the deer and feral hogs will eat them.

Speaking of which, here's a link to the "Work In Progress" - the ranch pond and surrounding areas.

http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/808031/

~ Cat

This message was edited Jan 27, 2008 10:38 PM

Cat.. Is there a reason your going more for the white plumbago over the blue? I planted for a landscape job, the blue and alternated it with Coreosis ' Moon Beam' and then tucked blue ageratum all aroudn in between. It was a butterfly magnet big time.

I have not see n the white in person, but got me some seed of it that I gonan try.

TexasPuddyPrint

I'm still in shock about your opinion on Los Asados. My wife and I decided you must be a communist. Seriously, on one of my trips down there in the spring when your pasture is in bloom we'd like to see it. It sounds as though you are going to be competing with the big boys. The Valley is such a good place. I think all of the Dave Garden's people ought to make trips down there just to see the flowers and wild life. My next trip trip this February down there I'm going to pick up about three of the noseburn plants at the butterfly center. They sell their plants for $5.00 for the gallon container.
Jameso

Starlight - the white plumbago is a native plant for us...but I don't have any - the blue is the one sold at most nurseries for landscaping. Figured I'd try to lean towards native trees, shrubs and durable plants and cheat when it comes to seasonal flowers.

James - I know, I know...everyone thinks I'm crazy for not going ga-ga over the place. I tell you it's just my taste buds. Just blame it on my taste buds...or perhaps because I prefer eating ribeye steak at the Texas Roadhouse :o)

Good selection on the noseburn plants. What are you hoping to attract? Sailors? Common Mestras? What butterfly center are you talking about? NABA? Bentsen? Heep's Nursery?

I've got a noseburn vine in my yard in the city. It's still in a pot - really must put it in the ground but as the vining species I want to keep it contained. There must surely be a native noseburn growing out at the ranch as we get hundreds of Common Mestras out there during the butterfly season. I just have not been able to locate it. If I ever do I'm going to harvest seeds and try to transplant some. The soil out there is very different from what I have in the city...so I've had trouble with some plant species.

Since I plan to buy a bulk amount of potted plants I had planned to go to Rio Grande Rancho Lomitas. http://www.rancholomitas.com Benito Trevino sells native plants in gallon pots for $3.00. I was out there in October and the plants were in excellent condition...many getting too big for their pots - which suits me perfectly!!! Take a gander at his native plant nursery listing.

Do you ever make it to south Texas during October-December? Our butterfly festival is in October and the fall season is our peak butterfly time.

~ Cat


This message was edited Jan 28, 2008 10:26 AM

TexasPuddyPrint
I need the nurseburn for the Anymone, not that I would know what is was even if it landed on me. The butterfly center I usually go to is the Valley Butterfly Center in Weslaco. At least I think that's the name. It's on Border street. I was looking for a coral bean plant several years ago and I happened upon MIke Heep. He's an interesting person. I got three plants from him; however, they where the tree type and not the bush which we have in East Texas so I eventually gave them away. Is that Rancholomitas north of Rio Grande city in the middle of no where? I think it was north or northwest. I had looked for a year trying to find a colima( or wild lime) bush to no avail. Then somehow I ran accross their web site, but not through Dave's Garden. They had that plant listed so I called them. A couple of months ago I took the three hour detour there on my regular trip to the Valley. Thought I was in the middle of Big Bend but I found them. The owner and I were both in the service at the same time in 1968-69 so we had about an hours talk. I'm really sure it's the same place. Small world isn't it.. Since you have such a good knowledge about plants, one of these days I'm going to send you a list of plants I can't seem to find and maybe you can point me in a direction. Some of the plants native to East Texas seem to be native in South Texas. One of these days I'll make it to the butterfly festivals. October is the last extension for tax returns and I always have about 200 returns extended so I really don't have any summer. Pretty cure I'll cure that problem.
Jameso

I'm thinking I saw bulk Cosmos, Rudbeckia and Poppies on sale at cheapseeds.com

Thanks Doccat5...I'll look that up. =^..^=

James...yes, Rancho Lomitas is in the middle of nowhere...but then again...so is much of Starr county :o) Small world indeed to meet up with someone in the service the same time you were. Benito has a wonderful place...there were so many butterflies around the nursery plants when I was there it was quite an exciting time for all.

We have colima growing wild at the ranch but the thorns are vicious and the tap root very deep. (Forbes Silkmoths use them as a larval host but I raised some on privet instead.) I've tried to dig out small ones I see but get about a foot down and the root still goes on. Of course the ground is rock hard since we're always under drought conditions. If it ever rains for several days I will try again...hopefully the ground will be soft enough...or perhaps next time brother has the backhoe attachment on the tractor he can find one to dig up for me. We have lots of native trees and shrubs that grow wild...Colima, Coyotillo, Ebony, Mexican Olive, Whitebrush, Blackbrush, Brasil, Coma, Cenizo, gobs of Mesquite, Anaqua, Acacia, Huisache, Granjeno, Guayacan, Mulberry etc...but they are all too well established...having been growing there for years. Am not too keen about traipsing around looking for small saplings as the rattlesnakes are equally abundant. If the plant isn't growing in the middle of an open field I'm not going in after it :o)

Valley Nature Center is the one you are talking about. Nice place...too many mosquitoes :o) Good plant selection too. Most of the butterfly parks now offer up plants for sale. NABA has started to get a good inventory going too.

Yeppers...pass along your plant list and I'll see what's available locally.

~ Cat

TexasPuddyPrint

Also address to get cheap seeds www.jfnew.com
A listing for seeds for one of the milkweed is 15.00, 6.50, and 25.00. I don't know how many pounds that represents. Well I've got to get back to my orange juicing. I'm down to 5 bushels.
Jameso

Cat, I mailed the package today...hope they help!