The message
from Mark Anderson contains these words:


This is my third year growing wildflowers in planters.(snip) I'm
wondering if perhaps that the severe lack of rainfall in the Spring
stunted the other plants allowing an invasive plant like baby's breath
to take over. I'd like to figure this out so I don't make the same
mistakes next year.

The plant best suited to the conditions (bb in this case) has succeeded
in smothering or stunting weaker competitors, creating a bare patch of
ground which it can colonise further. That's what weeds and wildplants
do and why people call very successful, persistent wild plants "weeds"
when they grow in gardens.You haven't made a mistake in wildflower
cultivation, just in wildflower expectation.

In nature, wildflower habitats are never fixed. They are transient,
endlessly responding to climate stresses, local insects or animals.
Plants compete for light, water, nutrients, pollination. Some weeds are
annuals and some long-lived perennials. In whatever wild-seed mix you
grow, or different climate conditions, in successive years some plants
will disappear and others will grow bigger and stronger. If gardeners
mimic the natural controls (fire, flood, tight grazing or insect attack)
then the following year sees yet another different set of survivors.


Janet.