The Wildflower Meadow
How Can You Create Instant Colour?

If you want an ‘instant’ wildflower patch, full of vibrant colour, why not create a ‘mini cornfield’?

To do this, you must have an area in full sun and be willing to turn the soil over each Autumn.

All these flowers need bare soil to germinate and will gradually die out in grassland.

First, remove all existing vegetation by digging or using a cultivator. For small areas you can use a covering of black polythene to kill off existing vegetation and grasses, but this is a slow process. Dig out Docks, Bindweed, Thistles and Couch Grass before using a cultivator, otherwise you will end up with more weeds than cornfield flowers! Cut up roots of these plants turn into new plants! Sow your ‘cornfield mix’ in Autumn or Spring. Some cornfield seeds such as Poppy and Corncockle need frost to make them germinate, so Autumn sowing is the best for these. Poppy seed is also very fickle and may not make an immediate appearance. However, it can be dormant in the soil for up to 100 years and still remain viable. This is why poppies often appear when fields are ploughed or cleared as building sites. They always surprise you but are worth waiting for.

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