Native Wildflower Seed FAQs

Answers to Native Wildflower Seed Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: What is the difference between PLS and bulk seed?

A: This is an important, and often overlooked, question. The amount of wildfower seed that you actually get when you buy depends upon how that particular company sells its seed. There are three ways that seed can be sold:

Bulk. Wildflower seed that is sold on a bulk basis means that if you buy 1 pound of seed, the supplier gives you exactly one pound of "seed", without any regard to its quality. This means that you are buying impurities, weed seeds, and chaff, all under the title of "seed". The pricing of such companies appears lower at first glance, but this is deceiving, as shown in the example below.

PLS. Wildflower seed that is sold on a PLS (Pure Live Seed) basis means that only the good, germinable seed is considered in the weight of the seed. The impurities, weed seeds, and chaff are all removed from the final weight by the following formula: purity rate x germination rate = % PLS. Obviously the seed would need to be laboratory tested in order to be sold in this way. For example, if the test results of a sample of wildflower seed showed that the seed had a purity of 98.00%, and a germination rate of 80.00%, the PLS content would be found by multiplying the percentage of purity by the percentage of germination, or 0.98 x 0.80. The resulting value of 0.784 or 78.40% would be the PLS content of that seed lot. Companies that sell wildflower seed in this manner initially appear to have higher prices, but careful comparison may prove otherwise, as in the example below.

Ratio. There are times when an actual laboratory test is not practical. This is especially true of rare species, of which there is not enough of a crop to warrant the expense of testing. In this case, an educated estimate can be made of what the actual PLS content of the seed lot would be, and it can be sold on a ratio. If it is estimated that a seed lot would have a PLS of 80%, the seed would be sold on a ratio of 1:1.25.

All seed sold by Everwilde Farms is sold on either a PLS basis or a ratio. Buying on a PLS basis can make a considerable difference, especially if you are buying a great quantity of seed. Let's put this into real life... you want to buy 10 pounds of a certain species of wildflower seed. Company A has the seed for sale for $300 per pound on a bulk basis, and Company B was selling the same lot of seed for $350 per pound on a PLS basis, which would actually be cheaper? Using a PLS of 78.40% from the example above:

Company A. Company A is selling the seed to you on a bulk basis, so they would weigh out exactly 10 pounds of seed, and ship it to you with a bill for $3000.00. What are you actually getting for your money?

10 pounds x 78.40% PLS = 7.84 pounds of viable seed

$3000.00 for 7.84 pounds of good seed = $382.65 per PLS pound

Company B. Company B is selling the seed to you on a PLS basis, so they would weigh out 12.755 pounds of seed (which contains exactly 10 Lbs of viable seed), and ship it to you with a bill for $3500.00. What are you actually getting for your money?

12.755 pounds x 78.40% PLS = 10.00 pounds of viable seed

$3500.00 for 10.00 pounds of good seed =$350.00 per PLS pound

In short, had you wanted 10 pounds of pure seed from Company A, you would have had to pay $3,826.50 for it.... $326.50 more than from company B. Seed sold on a PLS basis is not always cheaper, nor does it mean that the seed is better, it just needs to be considered when buying native wildflower seed.

Q: Why didn't my wildflower seeds germinate?

A: This could be due to a number of factors. Please be assured that we do everything that we can on our end to ensure that you are getting good seed! Here are some common causes of germination problems.

Stratification. If you did not stratify the seeds, and the label said that it would be best to do so, this may be the cause. Many wildflower seeds need a period of cold, damp conditions before they will break dormancy. In nature, it ensures that a seedling waits until spring to get going. Please read the question about stratification to find out how to do this.

Time. Another possible cause may be thatyou did not wait long enough. We have seen some seeds take as long as two or three months before they emerge! Usually seeds will sprout in two or three weeks, but some species can be slow.

Double Dormancy. There are a few species that seem to need two periods of cold stratification, with a warm, damp period in between. This feature causes the seeds to sprout the following year. It is another built in survival mechanism.

Unknown. We are not afraid to say that there are some times when it is just unclear why the seeds did not sprout. They can be treated in a seemingly similar way, and yet one time they sprout, and the next they do not. This just shows how much more there is to learn about the great Creation that is all around us!

Q: What is moist, cold stratification? How should I do it?

A: Moist, cold stratification is a technique that is used to simulate winter conditions for the wildflower seeds. Some species do not benefit much from this treatment, while for others it makes a vast difference! Some wildflower seeds have a built in germination inhibitor which needs contact with cold, wet conditions for a month or two, to minimize its effect on the seeds. This feature keeps the seeds from sprouting in the fall, only to be killed by a harsh winter. There are two ways that this treatment can be carried out:

Natural Stratification. By planting in the fall, nature takes its course and the seeds be treated naturally. You can either plant the seeds in the ground, or in seeding trays in an unheated building or greenhouse. When the soil warms up in the spring, the seeds should sprout readily.

Simulated Stratification. We start almost all of our seeds by means of a simulated stratification. We do this by putting the seed in a sterile medium (sand blasting sand works well for us, but other mediums will work) in a plastic bag in the refrigerator for several months. The medium should be dampened, but not have standing water in the bag. This will usually be enough to break the dormancy of the seed. Three months is ideal for many species, but if you are short on time, (who isn't) a month may help somewhat. Generally, the closer to three months of stratifiction, the better the germination you will see.

Q: Why is hand-harvested seed better than machine harvested seed?

A: Many wildflower seed companies today harvest their seeds with machinery, such as a combine. These machines were designed with agricultural crops in mind, and they work well for them. In the realm of native wildflowers, we have found that hand harvested seed is better for a number of reasons:

Ripening Time. There is a great difference between many native wildflowers, and most agricultural crops. The difference is that the seeds of most agricultural crops ripen at the same time, and are ready for harvesting in one pass of the machinery. Many wildflower seeds, on the other hand, ripen over the course of weeks, or even a month, on the same plant. It is not uncommon to find both blossoms and ripened seed on the same plant. So, if you are going to harvest the field in one pass with conventional farm equipment, when do you do it? Yes, there is an optimum time, but fact is that many seeds fall to the ground before that optimum time, and many seeds are still under formed at that time. Therefore, these unripe, and under fromed seeds get mixed in with the ripe seeds, lowering overall seed quality.

Hand harvested seed is gathered by going out andcollecting only the ripe seed at the precise time that it is ready. To do this, we need to go over the fields multiple times to get all of the seed.

Threshing. A combine threshes the material that goes through it to separate the seeds from the seed heads. In the case of many wildflower seeds, the threshing is happening to green seeds and ripe seeds alike. The seeds that are not quite as ripe, and still have a soft seed coat can get bruised in this proccess. Seed that is hand harvested does not usually need threshing, as it came out of the seed head during the harvesting process.

Purity. The seeds that come out of a combine can never be made as clean as those that are hand harvested. All of the particles generated in the threshing proccess makes it difficult, if not impossible to get clean again. What is worse, is that the unripe seeds that are not fully formed are virtually the same size and density as the good seeds, and this makes it very hard to separate them out. Thus, the seed is never quite as clean or of the same quality.

Upon considering all of these things, it is not hard to see why we hand harvest our seeds at at Everwilde Farms. it is a lot of work, but we feel that the quality of the seed produced is unsurpassed in the native wildflower seed industry.

Q: Why are some of the wildflower seeds so expensive?

A: Why wildflower seed is expensive:

Labor. Many wildflower seeds are expensive because of the amount of labor required to produce them. Just the harvesting, as explained in the previous question is a lot of work. Add to that seed cleaning, testing, planting, tending, and weed control over several years, and it adds up to a lot of work!

Time. Many native wildflowers require two or three years to produce a seed crop; some as many as five or seven. This length of time needs to be considered in the final price of the seed.

Risk. Many wildflower species are fragile seed crops. One wind storm or hail storm can wipe out an entire crop. Also, there are insects that will consume the crop if they are not monitored and destroyed. This all adds to the final product.

Yields. Some wildflowers, especially the smaller ones, only produce 20 pounds of seed to the acre. Compare that to 6,000 pounds of corn or wheat from an acre, and you will see a difference.

Rarity. Some of the wildflower species that we grow are rare! They are not available from any other source that we know of.

Seed Size. Finally, many wildflower seeds are so tiny that it makes them difficult to work with. Some have a seed count in excess of 1,000,000 seeds per ounce. This brings up one final point... if you consider the actual cost per seed, you will find that many wildflower seeds are cheaper than their larger seeded grass counterparts!

Q: How is your "native wildflower seed" different than other cheaper "wildflower seed"?

A: There are some basic and important differences between the seed that we sell, and what you will find at the local mall:

Native. Our seeds are native to the Midwest. This means that they grew here naturally, and are perfectly adapted to growing in this climate. When you buy a "wildflower meadow in a can", you never know where the seeds are from, or if they are well suited to grow in your area. Most often the species contained in these mixes are not native.

Duration. Many "wildflowers" in the cheaper mixes are not perennials, but are annuals. This means that they will make a great show of color in the first year, but then they are done, and will not come back the following year. Our native wildflower seed mixes are comprised of almost entirely perennials, and are meant to establish a permanent planting.

Fillers. Much of the material in a "meadow in a can" is filler. It can look like a lot of bulk, but if you read closely, you will see that you are not getting very much seed. Our wildflower seed mixes contain no fillers whatsoever.

Q: Where does your wildflower seed originate from?

A: Almost all of our wildflower seed had its origin in the four state area of MN, WI, IA, and IL. In many instances we can tell you an exact county of origin if you are interested. We are continually striving to obtain new seed sources in our immediate area. If you have native seed, or know of someone who has native seed from this area, we may be interested in acquiring some from you!

Q: Is your seed nursery grown, or wild collected?

A: Almost all of our wildflower seed is nursery grown, most of it right here at Everwilde Farms. We do not exploit wild stands of native wildflowers by unethical seed collection, or digging of plants. Our seed originates from the wild, but virtually all of the seed that we sell has been nursery propagated, and is not from the wild.

Q: How far away can the seed origin be, and still be considered local genotype?

A: Experts differ as to what exactly is considered "local seed". It has been shown that a species can vary more genetically in different conditions on the same site, than it sometimes will in similar conditions in another state. Some purists think that seed should be from within25 miles to be local, while most think the limit should be around 200 miles. Our seeds will grow outside of this area, but cannot be considered local genotype.