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Native Irish Wildflower Seeds

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    #2
    degsie
    Registered Users Posts: 8,729 ✭✭✭degsie


    Blooming good deal OP, worth spreading around!


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    #3
    ch750536
    Registered Users Posts: 3,736 ✭✭✭ch750536


    wildflowers.ie will tailor for your soil \ location and have a number of options. I ordered last week and this is on the way.
    Your Quote:
    Re: Area size : 200 m² (Meters) x 1.5 grams of seed per meter
    You require 300 Grams of Native Sourced Irish Wildflower
    Seed Mixture, without added 'Grass Seeds'.

    Recommend Product Code : MM11
    Species List:
    Stonecrop, Heather species, Corn Marigold, Corncockle, Cowslip, Devil's Bit Scabious, Meadow Buttercup, Foxglove, Hemp Agrimony, Lesser Knapweed, Scented Mayweed, Meadowsweet, Ox-eye Daisy, Ragged Robin, Red Clover, Ribwort Plantain, Selfheal, Sorrel, Wild Angelica, Wild Carrot, Yarrow, Yellow Rattle. Birdsfoot Trefoil, Red Bartsia, Mint, Bog asphodel, 1% Bluebell, and Mullein as a safe guard nurse crop in second year. Marsh Ragwort 0.1% (not Common Ragwort)
    Mixture Specifications:
    Origin: Native Irish Origin, Wildflower Seed Mixture.
    Moisture Level: Not for dry soil, unless well drained in high rainfall areas. suits moist free draining soils but not flooded wet.
    pH range: Best between 5 - 6.5
    Aspect: Sunny
    Life Cycle: Annual / Biennial / Perennial.
    Height Range: <30cm - > 150cm
    Flowering Period: May to August.

    Quote Price €81.11
    included in price 13.5% Horticulture rate Vat
    Included in price (Ánpost) Delivery / Parcel €6.20


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    #4
    A Law
    Registered Users Posts: 878 ✭✭✭A Law


    Lidl have a wildflower seeds coming in Thursday. Can't be as good a product but might be worth a try for €2.99 for 100g.


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    #5
    Suckit
    Registered Users Posts: 11,215 ✭✭✭✭Suckit


    A Law wrote: »
    Lidl have a wildflower seeds coming in Thursday. Can't be as good a product but might be worth a try for €2.99 for 100g.
    Are they native?


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    #6
    Suckit
    Registered Users Posts: 11,215 ✭✭✭✭Suckit


    luketitz wrote: »
    Slightly niche but for anyone doin' a bit of spring seed sowing or planting, these guys down in Waterford have some really well priced seed mixes compared to some of the garden centres

    E.g. this 30g bag for €24 vs a similar pack in Homebase for €39.99

    https://www.bloomingnative.ie/collections/nativewildflowerseed/products/traditional-irish-native-wildflower-mix?variant=37559335780502
    just to note, it is + €3.95 postage.

    I bought the 30g bag, been looking for a while. Thanks OP.


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    #7
    NIMAN
    Registered Users Posts: 32,980 ✭✭✭✭NIMAN


    A Law wrote: »
    Lidl have a wildflower seeds coming in Thursday. Can't be as good a product but might be worth a try for €2.99 for 100g.

    Lidl have 2 different packs, one available from 1st April, other from 8th:

    1st, 7.99 for 250g
    https://www.lidl.ie/en/p/great-gardens/flower-seed-pack/p9079



    8th, 2.99 for 100g
    https://www.lidl.ie/en/p/plants-flowers/bee-friendly-seeds/p10004

    I notice the latter ones have 4 different packs, one for bees, one for butterflies, one for summer mix, one for wildflower mix.
    Are they all much of a muchness?


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    #8
    Suckit
    Registered Users Posts: 11,215 ✭✭✭✭Suckit


    NIMAN wrote: »
    Lidl have 2 different packs, one available from 1st April, other from 8th:

    1st, 7.99 for 250g
    https://www.lidl.ie/en/p/great-gardens/flower-seed-pack/p9079

    8th, 2.99 for 100g
    https://www.lidl.ie/en/p/plants-flowers/bee-friendly-seeds/p10004

    Can anybody see if they are native?
    I doubt it, but would be handy to confirm.


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    #9
    Pique
    Registered Users Posts: 3,043 ✭✭✭Pique


    Forgive my ignorance, but what difference does it make to the insects if the flowers are non-native?

    30g for €24 versus 250g for €8 is quite a stark difference.


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    #10
    ch750536
    Registered Users Posts: 3,736 ✭✭✭ch750536


    Pique wrote: »
    Forgive my ignorance, but what difference does it make to the insects if the flowers are non-native?

    30g for €24 versus 250g for €8 is quite a stark difference.

    Non native may well fail to grow.


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    #11
    Pique
    Registered Users Posts: 3,043 ✭✭✭Pique


    ch750536 wrote: »
    Non native may well fail to grow.

    Well that's a possibility for any seed, really.

    But it's 25x the amount by price. The odds are good that you would see far more growing even including a huge failure rate.

    Ideally I agree that native species are preferable, but does it matter to the insects? Sowing them in a previously unflowered area so that there is no displacement of existing native flowers seems to me to be a financial no-brainer.

    What am I missing?


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    #12
    newaccount2017
    Registered Users Posts: 112 ✭✭newaccount2017


    I bought a box of the wildflower seeds from Mr. Price last year- looks like the ones from Lidl. The majority of the box is sawdust, with the seeds in it. So you're not actually getting that weight in 100% seeds, it's mostly sawdust (to help scatter the seeds I guess). I'm guessing that the crowd in Waterford are selling 100% seeds and no sawdust.


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    #13
    Suckit
    Registered Users Posts: 11,215 ✭✭✭✭Suckit


    Pique wrote: »
    Forgive my ignorance, but what difference does it make to the insects if the flowers are non-native?

    30g for €24 versus 250g for €8 is quite a stark difference.


    There is more information inside each link, but one of the main reasons is that our native species will flower at the right time for the insects and in turn, the trees etc.

    http://www.wildflowers.ie/wild-zone/technical-wild-flower/conservation/why_grow_native.htm
    In short: Species like butterflies that depend on flowers will live out it's life cycle in accordance to the time of growth and flowering. Non native plants even of the same species often flower at different times to the local native species, even two weeks out can make the difference between life and death.
    https://pollinators.ie/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Councils_actions-to-help-pollinators-2018-WEB.pdf
    Prioritise native plantsFor pollinators, it is important to prioritise the management and restoration of native plants over ornamental varieties. An estimated 78% of our native flowering plants require insect pollination. In return, they provide those pollinators with food (nectar and pollen) throughout the year. This means those insects will be there when we need them to pollinate our crops. Increasing the number of native flowers and trees that occur on council land not only provides food for pollinators, it creates a colourful and dynamic landscape that is pleasant to live in or to visit.

    In areas where you can enhance native species by deliberate planting, it is important to use stock or seed of local provenance. This means that it is sourced locally and is adapted to the local climate and soil conditions. Many of our wild pollinators have evolved to emerge from hibernation in the short window when our native species are in flower. If you buy stock (e.g. Hawthorn) from central Europe there can be a three week difference in the flowering times compared to those sourced locally. Local provenance seed or stock may be more expensive, however the benefits greatly outweigh any additional initial costs
    https://www.irishtimes.com/news/time-to-go-native-with-wildflowers-and-trees-1.19126
    The need to conserve the native flora, rather than import seeds and plants from other countries, is a central theme of Our Trees, a guide to growing Northern Ireland's native trees from seed and cuttings. It is compiled by Dinah Browne and published by Conservation Volunteers Northern Ireland, at 159 Ravenhill Road, Belfast. Thanks to some serious commercial and government sponsorship, it positively glows with rich design and photography.

    Jo Whatmough of the National Trust makes the case for local loyalty in the choice of trees - not only have our own species adapted to their habitats over thousands of years, but they relate to a whole network of snails, insects, lichens, birds and fungi and the community of plants that grow in their shade.


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    #14
    Pique
    Registered Users Posts: 3,043 ✭✭✭Pique


    Thanks man. That's something I didn't understand.

    I appreciate the info!


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    #15
    ch750536
    Registered Users Posts: 3,736 ✭✭✭ch750536


    ch750536 wrote: »
    wildflowers.ie will tailor for your soil \ location and have a number of options. I ordered last week and this is on the way.
    Just turned up, no sawdust.
    549424.PNG


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    #16
    Squeaksoutloud
    Registered Users Posts: 544 ✭✭✭Squeaksoutloud


    ch750536 wrote: »
    Just turned up, no sawdust.
    549424.PNG

    Got my supply from wildflowers.ie and as it has annuals in the mix still going strong 7 years later!


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    #17
    luketitz
    Registered Users Posts: 685 ✭✭✭luketitz


    Yeah the annuals are fantastic, the gifts that keep on giving. Native is better than the Lidl stuff more so for biodiversity than just keeping the insects happy, as the resources above cover very well.

    Tis' the simple things helping keep me sane this year anyway!


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    #18
    silentfreakout
    Registered Users Posts: 9 ✭silentfreakout


    Bought the Lidls box last year and it was a great success, lots of colourful cornflowers marigolds borage and plenty more with little effort. Though they may not be native mix, most plants in our gardens are not native.


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    #19
    Suckit
    Registered Users Posts: 11,215 ✭✭✭✭Suckit


    silentfreakout wrote: »
    Bought the Lidls box last year and it was a great success, lots of colourful cornflowers marigolds borage and plenty more with little effort. Though they may not be native mix, most plants in our gardens are not native.
    I'm pretty sure that's a lot of the reason behind the encouragement/campaign to buy native.
    I had heard originally a couple of people on the radio last year some time (no idea who they were or what station it was) talking about it, and that started my interest, so this year I was hoping to get some of the native plants and even picked some myself.
    Hopefully I have them in time and will have a decent go at it.


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    #20
    Caranica
    Registered Users Posts: 10,001 ✭✭✭✭Caranica


    Another wildflowers.ie fan here. I only have a large balcony so wanted a mix suited to window boxes and planters. Great to deal with, so helpful!


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