What are the Best Wildflowers to Grow in the High Plains?

There are people who consider gardens with wildflowers to be chaotic and unsightly, but due to their natural appearance, they can actually be very special. Wild flowers – often ignored and called “weeds” – can be of amazing beauty and do not require much attention, growing very well in areas where other flowers would suffer.

However, a wild garden does require some effort. You must ensure that the soil is ready for planting, that there are no weeds and the flowers do not develop chaotically and invade everything. When they are well-cared, these gardens give the owners a special satisfaction.

Read on for some tips on the best wildflowers to grow in the High Plains and how to turn your garden into a fabulous, natural space.

First, before you get started, you need to know what kind of soil you have in the garden and what flowers are suitable to grow there. For example, there are plants that behave very well on dry or sandy soil and plants that prefer a nutrient-rich black soil. Make a plan for how you want your future garden to look like. This way, when the time comes to start planting, landscaping will be easier. Besides, apart from the fact that the space will look well arranged, the whole planting process will take you much less time than if you didn’t know what to do with each type of flowers.

If you want to plant wild flowers in your garden, you have to get started early – in spring, if possible, but early summer will do too. As with any planting operation, the soil must be prepared and freed of debris.

It is also advisable to keep in mind that these wild flowers will grow quickly and require some care, so do not forget to create some access ways.

To choose the best shade wildflower mix for your garden in the High Plains, they must be adapted to the local climate. This is why specialists always recommend opting for species that grow naturally in the area where you live.

shade wildflower mix

Climate in the High Plains

High Plains comprise the southern part of the Great Plains. They cover some of the northern Texas, northeastern New Mexico, eastern Colorado, as well as western Kansas and include different ecosystems (rangelands, marshes, forests and desert). This translates into a highly diverse climate, defined by variations in temperature and precipitation (in the mountains, average temperatures are 40°F, while in southern Texas we are talking about 70°F). Average precipitation in Wyoming, Montana and western Texas is less than 15 inches per year, while in Oklahoma and eastern Texas it is more than 50 inches per year.

A few suggestions for wildflowers to grow in the High Plains

  • Partridge Pea Wildflowers Seed (Cassia fasciculata or Chamaecrista fasciculate)
  • Annual Gaillardia (Gaillardia pulchella)
  • Prairie Aster (Machaeranthera tanacetifolia)
  • Greenthread (Thelesperma filifolium)
  • Purple Prairie Clover (Petalostemon purpureum)
  • Narrow Leaf Purple Coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia)
  • Scarlet Globemallow (Sphaeralcea coccinea)
  • Prairie Coneflower (Ratibida columnifera)
  • Hoary Vervain (Verbena stricta)
  • Prairie Spiderwort (Tradescantia occidentalis)