[PCA] Wildflower Seed Postcards aren't as bad as the "wildflowermix"

Greg Houseal gregory.houseal at uni.edu
Wed Apr 25 15:38:49 CDT 2007


Rob,

Thanks for the link to the article.  I think it outlines the issues very 
well for 'wildflower' seed packets.  We become concerned here when 
well-meaning landscape contractors use these mixes to plant 'prairie' 
(including our city parks dept., unfortunately!).  I like the concept of 
a state 'education list' of species that might not be officially listed 
as 'noxious' or 'invasive' but yet pose a risk if they escape into 
natural areas.

Greg Houseal
Tallgrass Prairie Center
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0294

Rob Fiegener wrote:
> The University of Washington did a study of "wildflower" packets a few years
> ago.  Here's an excerpt and link to the full story:
>
> "When growing 19 such packets of wildflower mixes, however, University of
> Washington researchers found that each contained from three to 13 invasive
> species and eight had seeds for plants considered noxious weeds in at least
> one U.S. state or Canadian province.
>
> And what makes it nearly impossible for gardeners who want to be
> conscientious is that a third of the packets listed no contents and a little
> more than another third had inaccurate lists. Only five of the 19 correctly
> itemized everything." 
>
> http://uwnews.org/article.asp?articleid=7637
>
>
>   -Rob
>
>  
> ~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~ 
> Rob Fiegener 
> Native Seed Network 
> Institute for Applied Ecology
> 541.753.3099
> rob at nativeseednetwork.org 
> www.nativeseednetwork.org
>  
>
>
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