Backyard wildflowers

What can you do with wildflowers except look or photograph?

You can grow them.

Wildflower seeds are available in many localities at nurseries, garden-supply stores, and even well-stocked supermarkets.

A garden plot or border, nearby hillside or canyon, recklessly sown with seeds of pretty wild-flowering plants can be a most rewarding sight in spring, summer, or fall, no matter what the climate.

A large variety of wildflower seeds are sold by the Clyde Robin Seed Company, PO Box 2855, Castro Valley, Calif. 94546. Prices range from around 50 cents to $ 3 a packet, but there also are some mixes that are sold by the ounce, pound fractions, or pound.

The firm recommends that 15 to 20 pounds of wildflower seed be sown per acre to provide a full and colorful cover.

Prices range from about $11 up to $29 a pound. The seed catalog costs $1.

Another supplier is Environmental Seed Producers Inc., PO Box 5903, El Monte, Calif. 91734, where wildflower seeds in large quantities are also available. The cost of the various mixes of wildflower seeds runs from $16.50 to about $31 a pound.

Write for a free list of wildflower seeds and prices.