The Wildflower Meadow: Attracting Butterflies and Other Wildlife

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Looking critically at the yard today, it’s easy to see that it’s about time to mow the wildflower meadow at the top of the yard. The black-eyed susans are about finished, and the beebalm is on the downhill swing as well. The prairie gaillardia is long gone.

The meadow wasn’t as glorious this year as it was last year, continuing a yearly spiral of decline since the initial planting. I will have to apply new seed next year, but I am told it is not unusual to have to reseed every few years to keep wildflower plots looking as spectacular as the first year. And the first year was magnificent.

Wildflower Plot

I was nervous about starting a wildflower plot. My yard is sloped, the soil is terrible, and about the only things that grow well are sandburs. I didn’t know what to expect, honestly, but I knew I needed to do something with the bare areas left behind by repeated sandbur massacres, and I didn’t want to encourage Bermuda grass. So, I researched planting wildflowers, crossed my fingers, and decided to give it a try.

One fall, I tilled a sizable plot at the very top of my yard where watering is difficult, bought a few pounds of native seed mix from Native American Seed, scattered them as recommended, and… proceeded to watch my red ants march away with what I was afraid was all my seeds over the course of the next four or five months. It was a non-stop, moving red train of seeds disappearing into the anthill until cold weather shut down the tracks. (I guarantee they had plenty of food to get them through winter.)

Actually, I knew the ants didn’t get all my seeds, because the birds got quite a few, too. It was a favorite spot in the yard for my Mourning Doves.

Pleasant Surprise

Come Spring, I was depressingly certain that I didn’t have any seeds left to sprout. So, it was a pleasant surprise when several species came up, including the aforementioned black-eyed susans, beebalm, and prairie gaillardia. I also had coreopsis and a few others. I suspect that all my fleshy/meaty seeds got eaten. The flowers that made it have tiny, inconspicuous seeds that were not attractive to ants or birds. I didn’t have the diversity promised in the original seed mix, but it hardly mattered: The wildflower meadow was gorgeous (see picture).

My gardens are not really show-stoppers (not yet, anyway), but at least twice while my meadow was in full bloom, I heard brakes applied with subsequent sliding on gravel as cars drove past my yard, caught a glimpse of my meadow, and tried to stop for a better look. That rubber-sliding-on-gravel sound ranks among the highest compliments I’ve received as a gardener.

I’ve mentioned before that a good way to attract butterflies is with a mass of color, and the wildflower meadow does attract butterflies. Rudbeckia is a host plant for several species, and I’ve had Gorgone and Silvery Checkerspots in abundance.

Last year, a doe left her fawn concealed in the meadow while it was still very young. We even saw Northern Bobwhite Quail scurrying through the flowers. And, of course, the ants and Mourning Doves had feasts. If you have the room, planting a wildflower meadow is very rewarding, for you as well as your wildlife.

Meet Leslie Miller

Leslie Ann Miller shares 3.5 acres in rural Oklahoma with birds, butterflies and wide variety of animals. She is currently transforming her yard with plantings…

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