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Looking for Native Irish Wildflower seeds

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2

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    #32
    JBloom
    Registered Users Posts: 3 ✭JBloom


    Hey Guys, what are the names of the companies recommended on wildflowers.ie , I want to try wildflowers this year, have seen loads in houses near me and they look great!



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    #33
    SnowyMuckish
    Registered Users Posts: 862 ✭✭✭SnowyMuckish


    Wildflowers.ie is the company. You need to contact them directly via email or phone. I would recommend them any day over boxes of non native ‘wild flower mixes’ you get in garden centres. They say that they are certified native Irish wildflowers and are very thorough in assessing your site in order to provide you the most suitable mix. It may be too late to start this year I’m not sure? If your site is ready and prepared already for planting you could be ok but I’m thinking your window might be closing? No harm in checking with them!



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    #34
    fryup
    Registered Users Posts: 18,067 ✭✭✭✭fryup


    ^^^^^^^^^^^^

    they'd need to update their website its woeful, stuck in the 90's



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    #35
    Suckit
    Registered Users Posts: 11,211 ✭✭✭✭Suckit


    Yikes! you gave me a fright there I had to go and check, especially after the long winter we have just had.

    I got mine from bloomingnative.ie last year and i still have plenty left to sow.

    It says on the packet best time is between March and late May and then again from mid August to mid October.

    Soil temp must be above 6°C at the time of sowing and for the two weeks after that. It also says to avoid sowing during the dry hot summer months.

    Post edited by Suckit on


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    #36
    magicbastarder
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 49,490 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    are they doing orders in domestic quantities? i mailed them about five years ago and basically they were only selling in volumes suitable for over 1/4 acre of sowing, IIRC.



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    #37
    Suckit
    Registered Users Posts: 11,211 ✭✭✭✭Suckit


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118840825#Comment_118840825

    BlomingNative are, yep. They have updated the site and I think rebranded, but they do small to massive packets, for individuals or communities/businesses etc.

    https://connectingtonature.ie/collections/nativewildflowerseed/products/traditional-irish-native-wildflower-mix?variant=37559335813270

    Post edited by Suckit on


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    #38
    Tree
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 4,703 Mod ✭✭✭✭Tree


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118840803#Comment_118840803

    It's been updated!


    I got seeds off them this year, 100g to do a front "lawn" in a suburban semi d. They were super helpful, tbh, just fill in the quotation, wait for a response, paypal the bobs and the seeds arrive really quick with instructions and a cert. They just dropped their prices too (I assume to clear any remaining spring seed).



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    #39
    magicbastarder
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 49,490 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    It's been updated!

    wildflowers.ie? doesn't look like it. it's been many years since i saw a commercial site like that.



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    #40
    SnowyMuckish
    Registered Users Posts: 862 ✭✭✭SnowyMuckish


    There was mention on the website last year I think?? that they were planning to update to a new look site and that they were pausing orders until the new site was operational but there was a long delay and when I went back it didn’t seem any different from the original. They’re great but it’s a very higgledy piggledy site.



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    #41
    Tree
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 4,703 Mod ✭✭✭✭Tree


    Nah, it's been updated since 2 months ago, not a full overhaul (as planned for years) but a few pages. TBH, it's a hell of a lot better than a crappy facebook page.



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    #42
    looksee
    Registered Users Posts: 28,430 ✭✭✭✭looksee


    Don't be put off by the website, if you are looking for seeds and advice just go with the presentation, better than a slick site with rubbish product.



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    #43
    SnowyMuckish
    Registered Users Posts: 862 ✭✭✭SnowyMuckish


    Very true!



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    #44
    RainInSummer
    Registered Users Posts: 1,187 ✭✭✭RainInSummer


    Got about 3kg of seed from wildflowers.ie at this stage. V good so far.

    The site is shocking though, like truly awful. Maybe the core of their business is repeat big orders from local authorities and not online retail customers though, who knows.



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    #45
    [Deleted User]
    Posts: 1,010 ✭✭✭ [Deleted User]


    Sacks of seed marked OPW are the best!! Even include rattle



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    #46
    fryup
    Registered Users Posts: 18,067 ✭✭✭✭fryup


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/116520373#Comment_116520373

    got the seed bombs this morning, they look like maltessers🙂 but my question is - how do they spread out?? the flowers that is



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    #47
    RainInSummer
    Registered Users Posts: 1,187 ✭✭✭RainInSummer


    My experience of seed bombs were that they arrived over a month late and not one single flower germinated out of 500 bombs.

    They were divided up amongst three sites and planted by three people. So it wasn't a case of soil type not suiting them or me making a mess of it. I prepped the site well in my case. The exact site has gone on to grow a huge number of flowers from seed from other sources.

    Far too easy to blame user error in this case, but I broke a dozen of them open and didn't see a single seed in any of them. And you'd notice the seeds from the species they list.

    This was approximately three years ago.



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    #48
    KieferFan69
    Registered Users Posts: 455 ✭✭KieferFan69


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058166916/looking-for-native-irish-wildflower-seeds

    Hi will you consider truffles inoculated on an oak or hazel sapling,



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    #49
    victor8600
    Registered Users Posts: 1,639 ✭✭✭victor8600


    I bought 0.5 acre worth of wildflower seed from wildflowers.ie and planted them successfully 5 years ago. Still have lots of flowers, though the grass is difficult to hold back. The planted area needs to be cut in the autumn and the cuttings removed, which is quite difficult for me as I have also planted trees, so I cannot use a tractor.



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    #50
    RainInSummer
    Registered Users Posts: 1,187 ✭✭✭RainInSummer


    I got myself a scythe from fruit hill farm @victor8600

    You'd know you'd be alive when you're finished with it.

    Same issue with the grass here.



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    #51
    Wanderer78
    Registered Users Posts: 29,384 ✭✭✭✭Wanderer78


    got mine from https://connectingtonature.ie/ last year, very quick delivery, and turned out very well

    ive gone with https://theirishgardener.com/ this year, so lets see what happens



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    #52
    victor8600
    Registered Users Posts: 1,639 ✭✭✭victor8600


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118850309#Comment_118850309

    Thanks, I have a scythe too :) Though I can cut less than 0.1 acre a day with my scythe, so it takes several weekends to clear half an acre.



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    #53
    Suckit
    Registered Users Posts: 11,211 ✭✭✭✭Suckit


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118850309#Comment_118850309
    https://streamable.com/je4cw6
    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118850391#Comment_118850391

    Are the wildflower seeds from theirishgardener natiive? It doesn't seem to say it anywhere on the site, and they look like the generic packets you can get Lidl, Aldi, B&Q etc...



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    #54
    Wanderer78
    Registered Users Posts: 29,384 ✭✭✭✭Wanderer78


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118851345#Comment_118851345

    to be honest , i havent a clue but would like to know myself, their customer care isnt too bad, they responded to my emails, so......



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    #55
    Suckit
    Registered Users Posts: 11,211 ✭✭✭✭Suckit


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118851372#Comment_118851372

    I noticed that there are some that say native, so I guess all the others aren't.

    There are three on this page (out of stock) - https://theirishgardener.com/collections/wildflower-seeds?filter.v.availability=0&filter.v.price.gte=&filter.v.price.lte=&sort_by=manual

    and one on this page (in stock) - https://theirishgardener.com/collections/wildflower-seeds?filter.v.availability=1&filter.v.price.gte=&filter.v.price.lte=&sort_by=manual



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    #56
    Wanderer78
    Registered Users Posts: 29,384 ✭✭✭✭Wanderer78


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118851408#Comment_118851408

    i did find this very confusing when looking myself, its very hard to know whats native, and whats not, i know a member of the wild life trust, and theyre swaying more towards not planting anything at all, and allowing nature decide, which makes a lot of sense, but my garden just turns into a weed nightmare, so im just taking my chances

    email them, and see what they have to say



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    #57
    Suckit
    Registered Users Posts: 11,211 ✭✭✭✭Suckit


    I think I read elsewhere on here that native wildflowers will state "Native Irish" on the packet. Others say "Native" but don't say where they are native to (but not Ireland). More information on pollinators.ie, but I would be fairly confident that most aren't Native Irish on that page.

    We allowed nature to decide last year and got some cowslips and a few others that surprised us on a barren area near a community green area, but because a lot of the soil there was dumped from elsewhere, we got a LOT of dandelions and a lot of coarse grass that was preventing other flowers from growing so that area will be half and half this year. The plan is to start planting late next week.



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    #58
    fryup
    Registered Users Posts: 18,067 ✭✭✭✭fryup


    Re: the Seedbombs - how long will i have to wait before i see any growth?



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    #59
    BobbyMalone
    Registered Users Posts: 322 ✭✭BobbyMalone


    How small of a plot can you go with wildflowers? I'm seeing references to 0.5 acres, that kind of a thing. We have a small part of the garden that I would like to leave to grow wild (3 x 1.5 metres) - pointless?



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    #60
    Suckit
    Registered Users Posts: 11,211 ✭✭✭✭Suckit


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119002705#Comment_119002705

    My Neighbour has cut out a sod or sods in the centre of his garden smaller than that, probably around 1m x 2.5m and he has them in that, then at the corner ends of his garden and up the front in a small circle probably about 1m circumference or thereabouts. I can only see the centre part when talking to him at the fence and there is a fair bit of activity around them.

    I wouldn't think pointless at all.



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    #61
    Day Lewin
    Registered Users Posts: 4,647 ✭✭✭Day Lewin


    https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119002705#Comment_119002705

    Not pointless at all: the classic advice is to restore the traditional management, and the seed-bank in your own soil will regenerate naturally, within a year or two.

    This really does give you the best chance at re-wilding, since your local natives are the ones best suited to the soil, moisture, acidity, altitude and micro-climate.

    But don't look for glamorous sheets of coloured flowers - thats often only a brief week or two, or else a once-off from a packet of seeds. It really is your own seedbank that needs to be allowed to re-grow. Patience and a watchful eye, no chemicals, and only a few mowings a year. You will be richly rewarded.



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