Wow, love this thread! I, too, became interested in wild flowers about 3 years ago. I began collecting seeds/plants from the road ditches near me, and got addicted. Two years ago, I turned my 50'x50' vege garden area into a wild flower area. Sadly, I wasn't able to keep up with the grass and weeds, and they overtook most of what I had put in. So, last year I killed off mostly everything and started new. I was thrilled I was able to keep the grass and weeds under control, and added lots of new natives. This year I should reap the benefits with lots of flowers! I'm planning to begin work on the next section, which is about 120'x50', and will be left more "wild", although certain things will be cut back or kept under control, like thistle, even though it is a native.
I raised around 30 monarchs last year, and over 20 black swallowtails, and have 11 BST chrysalises in the garage in an aquarium I was raising them in. They often over winter, so in my garage is much "tamer" than outside. This year I will be growing much more dill, fennel, and parsley to feed the BST's. I'm working on getting a good stand of Queen Anne's Lace for them, too!
I have the following milkweed varieties for the monarchs: common, swamp, whorled, purple, prairie, silky (also known as tropical - no, not native, but the monarchs preferred it about 65% of the time, and it bloomed constantly all summer until the first HARD frost!), orange butterfly weed, and green (sometimes called "tall").
Then, I've collected seeds or have plants growing of: blanketflower, compass, rattlesnake master, bergamot, white mountain mint, culver's root, gray headed coneflower (mine does not go crazy either, although after 3 years it is spreading - yay!), purple coneflower, black eyed susan, false indigo, penstemon, wild liatris (I had plants I had purchased, but they bloom a good month before the wild, and the wild variety by me is much taller at 4-6'), Joe Pye (also bought 2 dwarf - 4' tall - Joe Pye plants last summer), Vervain, dwarf spiderwart, and may more I can't think of off the top of my head! Let me know if there are any of these you would like seeds of, JB. Some I bought plants, and have not been able to collect seeds, but most I have seeds and will be growing them for the first time this year. I have seeds out in milk jugs "winter sowing style" already, and plan to put a lot more out in the next couple of weekends. The first picture shows how the milk jug is cut from the handle to the handle, and then I use pipe cleaner to hold it together. Cap is removed to allow air to escape and water to get in. Then just put them outside and let Mother Nature tell the seedlings when to sprout. MUCH hardier seedlings than those grown under lights inside. (And, no, I don't grow "whor(es)"! That's short for Whorled Milkweed.
The second picture is what I have planted so far. I think there are 21 gallon containers, and 13 half-gallon containers so far. I have all my natives out that need cold stratification, but will be plants lots more for the new area. It's fun, and cheap!
