On Sat, 13 Sep 2003 11:53:53 GMT, Frogleg opined:

On Fri, 12 Sep 2003 13:56:53 GMT, animaux wrote:

If you think about how nature does it, nobody comes around the planet burrying
the seed. The seed lay on top of the soil and get depressed into the soil by
water from rains. What you can do is scratch the soil up a bit and give he
seeds some "tooth" to sit in. Many of the wildflower seeds require light to
germinate.

Yeah, but... *People* try to plant seeds for optimal germination and
growth; many plants count on producing 1000 seeds for each successful
germination, or enclosing the seeds in attractive fruits that will
lead to them being deposited on the ground with a suitable fertilizer,
or carried to an open area where sunlight is abundant or... Very
clever, those plants. While a wildflower meadow may grow up over years
from random germination, people who want to create the effect need to
invest a little more in preparation and care than simply throwing a
bunch of seeds around. Scratching up the dirt, clearing weeds
beforehand, providing water, etc. and a little research on the
requirements for germination/growth seems appropriate. I've seen many
"wildflower mix" seed collections deemed suitable for either a
'region' or even with no geographical preference whatsoever. The ones
designated for my own area (at least an area within 6-800 miles of
here) include plants I've never seen or even read about growing here.

Like I said, nobody comes around planting wildflower seeds. The most
successful, healthy stands of wild flowers or prairie plants are those which
come up under the conditions they are planted. Too much fussing around is the
downfall and low germination problems people come across.

I have a full blown prairie garden. Each year the populations of wild flower
plants more than double and triple their presence. The ones which don't like it
under the mesquite do not come back. No manner of preparation is required if
you plant seeds proper for your particular region or corridor within a few
regions your yard may sit on. Our yard, actually all of Austin up and down the
Interstate 35 corridor is indeed at the union of 4 particular regions in Texas.
Texas has 10 regions.

Look I can go on and on about rangeland ecology, but go ahead and prepare and
fuss around. I'm saying I don't do that fussing and I simply broadcast seeds of
plants I wanted to germinate when I saw them in the wild coming to seed
maturity. I was successful and the garden is almost self-sufficient. I still
have to weed, tidy things up and other tasks, but after four years in this
garden it has taken on a life of its own.

Victoria