Wildflower Prairie Buzz

Last year, my sister got me interested in prairies and native wildflowers when she dragged the entire family to Prairie Nursery, a well-known nursery (I think Martha Stewart has even been there and written about it in her magazine) in Wisconsin. I was able to join a little walking tour hosted by their catalog photographer about how to photograph flowers and landscapes. Although I don't think I am a skilled enough photographer to pick up many tips, I did walk away with an appreciation of these varied and beautiful wildflowers and native landscapes. I had no idea how many native flowers there are, or how hardy they are!


When we moved back to Wisconsin, I found that our county has a program offering native prairie grasses and flower seeds to residents at a huge discount. Given that my new yard is devoid of all flowers, I jumped at the opportunity to plant my own little wildflower prairie. I ordered 1,000 square feet of seeds and asked the hubby very nicely to help me till up the entire front of my house. Maybe because it takes him around 3 hours to mow our yard (!!), getting rid of this amount of grass didn't seem to make much of a dent in our weekly lawn care. But if it works...

Birds will be chirping, butterflies fluttering...pure bliss, right? Well, we'll see. At the moment it just looks like a big (HUGE) area of dead grass and dirt. But I'm sure a utopia of naturalness awaits! I even have a new bird feeder ready to set up right in the midst of it so when our yard is overwhelmed with all the rare birds it surely will, I'll be ready! Any experienced wildflower gardeners out there? Any tips?