The problem with wildflower seed packs

This year if planted a patch of open soil in my garden with two packages of wildflowers that I bought from OSC Seeds. I posted about it here.

Now that they are beginning to flower I see that I have been duped by these vendors and have planted a number of European species. This is not at all what I intended. Why do seed vendors do this? To maximize profit obviously.

Take the example in the image above. I was excited to see this new and interesting flower, with its really-long petal arrangement. It turns out it is Sweet William Catchfly. Originally a native of Europe, it has become widespread in North America. Perennial in USDA plant hardiness zones 5 to 8. Pretty, but I’m going to rip it out before it has a chance to reproduce.

So while I attempt to make my gardens look like someplace (a geographical region with plants unique to that area), they’ll end up looking like every place. This is why, generally, I’m not too fond of garden nurseries. You’ll find the same stuff in Hamilton as in Vancouver, or even Amsterdam. GRRRR!

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