Wildflowers give great design lessons: color, planting design, ecology, light…
Color
Colors change throughout the day, shifting from warmer to cooler. They mix: sometimes complimentary (yellow-blue, violet-orange), sometimes analogous (shades of blue, pink or yellow).
Planting design
These plants often grow intermingled, where they support, shade or even nourish each other. Sometimes there are broad swaths of a single color, sometimes plants are mingled, and sometimes what appears to be a single swath of color is a multitude of different plants with similar colors. Tall plants such as desert sunflower may grow from a low mat of sand verbena.
Soil
Although deserts get stereotyped as having sandy soils, they don’t always. There are rocky, alluvial, gravelly and baked hard soils, each with their typical plant associations. Sand verbena, obviously likes sand – so you won’t find it in rocky alluvium. But you may find barrel cactus. Ocotillos like washes in general.
Ecology
There are root associations between these plants. They have different life spans, from decades for cacti and shrubs to months for annuals.
Unpredicability
We may not want to admit it, but our gardens are unpredictable: some things grow better in certain years. Wildflowers vary depending on when the rain falls, how much falls, how hot it gets, how cold it gets and when all this happens. In very wet years, depending on when the rain falls, a field that was previously flowers may come up predominantly grasses.
