Wildflower/Prairie Mixture

BoneCrusher20

Active Member
Any recommendations for seed order companies? Looking to turn some old goldenrod fields into more wildflower or prairie type mixtures. Not sure if anyone has online order companies they have bought from and were reasonable. I would like to do more than acre or 2, but man seed is expensive, so do little at a time.
 
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I bought my first from American meadows and if grew great, what I bought last year didn't come up hardly at all.I will try to find where I got this year
 
Prairie Moon seems like a popular place from the pollinator/wildflower groups I’m in. I haven’t pulled the trigger yet, but I’m in the same boat as you - looking to dress up an old hayfield. Sign over your first born.
 
The NRCS has been a great help to me in my 11 acre pollinator planting. I haven't had to come out of pocket for anything yet, and I still have a surplus of funds to work from. I'm going into my 2nd year of a 5 year commitment, and it looks like I'll break even. They give you a list of seed companies to choose from, contractors for spraying, planting, burning, etc. You could probably make money off the deal if you did some of the maintenance work yourself.
 
I have ordered from RoundStone seed, and I’ve been very pleased with them. Great folks, good customer service, and quality seed.

I see that you’re in Wisconsin, and RoundStone is located in Kentucky. If you’re able to, I would strongly encourage you to try get seed from a company that sources their stock from Wisconsin or a contiguous state. I think that you’d have higher odds of a successful and enduring pollinator plot that way. Genetic traits that make wildflower seeds successful in the mid south might not translate to success in your region.

If you are interested in doing more than 1-2 acres it may be worth your time and effort to talk to your local NRCS office. Their cost share programs will typically cover the cost of both seed and field preparation.

I have converted several small areas on my properties (1-3 acre portions of fields) into pollinator plots, and I’ve helped friends with converting slightly larger fields on their properties (3-5 acres). I’m far from an expert, but I’m happy to offer my amateur advice if it would be beneficial to you.
 
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Try to plant perennials,some of mine came back this year but I doubt I will get another year.I may just go with the wild black eyed susan that I already had
 
I have ordered from RoundStone seed, and I’ve been very pleased with them. Great folks, good customer service, and quality seed.

I see that you’re in Wisconsin, and RoundStone is located in Kentucky. If you’re able to, I would strongly encourage you to try get seed from a company that sources their stock from Wisconsin or a contiguous state. I think that you’d have higher odds of a successful and enduring pollinator plot that way. Genetic traits that make wildflower seeds successful in the mid south might not translate to success in your region.

If you are interested in doing more than 1-2 acres it may be worth your time and effort to talk to your local NRCS office. Their cost share programs will typically cover the cost of both seed and field preparation.

I have converted several small areas on my properties (1-3 acre portions of fields) into pollinator plots, and I’ve helped friends with converting slightly larger fields on their properties (3-5 acres). I’m far from an expert, but I’m happy to offer my amateur advice if it would be beneficial to you.
I've seen some of these NRCS programs.....wonder if just stopping into local extension would be place to start. As i've heard of them, but also maybe didn't think since i'm not doing some big 10 acre renovation that they would probably put me to back of the line.
 
I've seen some of these NRCS programs.....wonder if just stopping into local extension would be place to start. As i've heard of them, but also maybe didn't think since i'm not doing some big 10 acre renovation that they would probably put me to back of the line.
 
I’d say stopping by the office or calling the office to set up a meeting with whoever would be the point person for your potential project would be a great place to start.
You might be surprised at their options and willingness to sign on to help you. A close friend of mine just did a 3 acre pollinator plot through the nrcs office. It’s always a crap shoot with government programs, but you never know. They covered the full cost of his project. They did an initial site visit which took about 45 min. They paid for his field preparation. They came back after his field preparation was completed to ensure that he had adequate bare ground, and then they paid for his seed mix (that they approved ahead of time). The seed mix he purchased was all Imazapic tolerant seed/species, and they paid for the preemergent imazapic application as well. I was really impressed with how the process worked out for him.
 
I just realized my response could be misleading on the amount of time the process took for him. The NRCS was very eager to partner with him, and they made the process fairly easy. However, it wasn’t very quick. The paperwork process took him several months. The field prep for a pollinator plot can also be a lengthy process depending on what is already growing and what the seed bank holds.
My last pollinator plot I did behind my house was a fescue pasture with little pockets of Johnson grass. It took multiple rounds of spraying in spring, summer, and fall to kill it off. The fescue seeds in the soil took awhile to ward off as it would germinate again once the field was bare and the weather cooled off. Johnson grass will look dead and bounce back. I had to spot spray it repeatedly last summer, and I’ve had to spray a few sprouts this summer again.
That being said, there was a time gap for him between papers being signed and getting the green light from the NRCS to plant the wildflower seeds. They ensured it was done correctly, and the fact that it wound up being free for him made it all worth the effort.
 
I’d say stopping by the office or calling the office to set up a meeting with whoever would be the point person for your potential project would be a great place to start.
You might be surprised at their options and willingness to sign on to help you. A close friend of mine just did a 3 acre pollinator plot through the nrcs office. It’s always a crap shoot with government programs, but you never know. They covered the full cost of his project. They did an initial site visit which took about 45 min. They paid for his field preparation. They came back after his field preparation was completed to ensure that he had adequate bare ground, and then they paid for his seed mix (that they approved ahead of time). The seed mix he purchased was all Imazapic tolerant seed/species, and they paid for the preemergent imazapic application as well. I was really impressed with how the process worked out for him.
Imazapic tolerant is really interesting to me......as i have so much surrounding goldenrod that has been pretty big worry of all this and main question i want to address w/ whomever so that it doesn't just take it all over again, as there are some sections i've already started to do 2-3x dosing of gly for t his year and plan to continue that next year to try rid that seed bank of anything goldenrod related. I think it may be few year project to diminsh it the best i can.
 
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