Organic Seeds - Natural Meadows

NEW Pictorial Meadows Seeds®

The Pictorial Meadows® mixtures are carefully blended seed mixes of native and non-native hardy annuals designed to provide high quality and cost-effective flowering displays. They have been developed following several years of intensive trials by Dr Nigel Dunnett at the University of Sheffield. Unlike other mixes that are available, Pictorial Meadows® will flower and provide visual interest over an extremely long period of time (from summer through to late autumn).

They overcome many of the problems that are often associated with creating meadows from seed, such as unreliable germination, short flowering season, untidy appearance and the need to sow on low-fertility soils.

Pictorial Meadows® create sumptuous visual effects; they are formulated primarily for their harmonious and impressionistic colour associations rather than attempting to copy the species compositions of meadows that might be found in the wild. They inject drama into large-scale commercial landscapes and create sparkling, complex and intricate pictures at the very smallest of scales. Providing a colourful, wildlife-friendly replacement for mown grass, or more formally in planting beds, or to provide colour between planted shrubs, trees and perennials. The mixtures have been used successfully in urban parks, private gardens, school grounds, play areas, urban highways, verges and roundabouts.

The seed mixtures contain native wild flowers and non-native garden plants, and are a product of more than one country. They are therefore not suitable for conservation mixes for use in rural areas outside garden boundaries.

All seeds are supplied in 6gram packs (though larger packs are available – please ask for details) at a price of £3.99 pack plus postage and packing.

Annuals:

Annual meadows produce superb colour displays within 8 weeks or so of sowing. Unlike other annual meadow mixtures Pictorial Meadows® mixtures are formulated to give continuous displays from midsummer through to late autumn. The recommended sowing rate is 2 - 3g per square metre.

Perennial:

Perennial meadows provide beautiful intricate and naturalistic displays that carry on from year to year, without the need for repeated cultivation. While lacking the overwhelming flower-power of the annual meadows, our perennial meadows share the same characteristics of very long seasons of flowering and harmonious colour displays. Again, we mix native with non-native cultivated species to heighten visual effects. All mixes contain a small amount of appropriate annuals for first-year effect.

Please note that to aid establishment of the flowering plants our mixes do not contain grasses (although native grasses will come in of their own accord once the meadows are established). The first two mixtures both flower continuously from spring through to autumn. Mainly European species start the display, giving way in late summer to North American species to provide a rich climax to the season.

The suggested sowing rate is 1g per square metre.