No, foxesearth, I've not looked on that site but I will. Thanks My fear with the plot is that briars, privet hedge, and youpon will take over. It is a freshly prepared site so there are still many roots and runners underneath the soil. We bulldozed it this winter and had as many stumps removed as possible but unless I use (and I don't even like the word) "ROUNDUP" I know I will have lots of stuff coming back, in fact it already is. So that is why I need to be able to mow. The wildflowers are coming from a man in Missouri that prepared them exclusively for this area. They are in route and should be here soon. Everything he is sending will bloom. No grasses. I will post the details of whats in the mixture as soon as it arrives. We will be having a sister plot that will be seeded grasses for the quail. I can ask my husband what will be in it but I know one of the grasses is millet. we will plant as soon as possible, It's time now. Ed wants to rake it with a rake he attaches to the back of the tractor and then he will use a cultipacker - probably mispelled this- to press the seed into the ground so the rain won't send them to the gulf of mexico. we will sow them by hand but that's no big deal. No fertilizers or anything, we think they will be hardy enough to make it on their own. we are considering irrigation but are not sure at this point. Thats more and time and expense. I am in zone 8. We are in the south mississippi area. McComb/Magnolia to be exact. As for overwintering I know that they will be there in this area even if there is no host plant. Though I'm sure something in there will be a host. Plus you know how they like to crawl off away from the host and that concerns me I hope I've answered your questions. Let me know. Butterflutter

Well, the obvious answer is clover of course. There are many varieties of clover. There are also quite a few varieties of ornamental grass. I recently asked a similar question, and wold told lyre leaf sage could survive mowing, and blue eyed grass could survive occasional mowing. I'm told ditch llilys can survive mowing. Of course, most bulbs can survive occasional mowing....particularly grape hyacinth. None of these would choke out weeds. Would creeping thyme work?

Oh, I'm sorry you are having problems with ordinance! Depending on what sort of community you live in, though, a meadow-type wildflower garden may not be appropriate. The critters that like to make use of those habitats are animals that many people living in cities or suburbs or towns consider "pests." Most of us don't want our neighbors increasing the population of mice and insects that live in colonies, for example. I have had great success by planting native perennials, shrubs, and clumping grasses (like Little Bluestem and Switchgrass) in a more traditional-styled garden, which in my area means mulch and rocks and stuff mixed in with free-standing plants. So while I am using prairie grasses, and prairie flowers like coneflower, I'm planting them in the way that people normally plant gardens; in tended beds with defined borders. The birds love it, and it's nice to see seed-eaters like goldfinches clinging to flower heads while insect-eaters like robins and sparrows hop around in the mulched area. I leave the dead seedheads stand all winter and they are quite dramatic in the winter landscape. I mix in some shrubs and small trees (all natives), including some berry-producers that different birds love. I do have one area that's currently weedy and is too steep to really plant in a formal way, and I plan on putting in a lower-growing grass (I'm thinking of giving prairie dropseed a try) with a small sprinkling of perennials, and I can just weed-whack the whole thing down in the fall. I must admit that while I'm a big fan of using natives and gardening for wildlife, as a city-dweller I honestly don't really want a meadow right next door to me. I think many people feel the same. So I think the idea of leaving defined areas standing with an edging border (and maybe a few nice lawn ornaments or a sign) is a good one.

A forest will choke out a thicket, I often recomend that fruit and nut trees be planted on purpose, so that we lock up carbon and produce food for ourselves, and chocke out the brush plants that are unpleasent to walk through. When you go on a hike along a tail it seems that you are always either bordered by clearing/lawn or by a thicket, but once you break through that thicket you can useually travle quite quickly and easily and have plenty of space to move about. The main reasonfor removing trees and brush historicly wasn't to make things more pleasent, it was to open up land for agricultural use. with a field we can grow staple cerial grains, or legumes, or use it as pasture for animals, while some trees may provide seasonal food for some critters it takes alot of work to survive off of them year round (and trust me when I say thing, willow does not taste that good) . Our modenr day lawns were not contrived from thin air, you need to look at were they came from to understand how they fit in. Lawns are popular mainly in the south (sure, lots of people like them, but in the south they are sick for them) the south had a large portion of its caucasian inhabitants come from scotland (the southern drawl is very closely related to the scots accent) in schotland they have huge green field that are kept down to a few inches all summer long, this is because there is alot of rain and people raise sheep. Now, in the south there isn't as much water in the summer, and there aren't as many sheep, but people still liked the look of home so a lawn with mowers and irrigation is what they came up with.