Top Five Yellow Wildflowers for Green Gardening in the Midwest

Yellow wildflowers add a cheerful, environmentally-friendly touch to the garden. These five lovely varieties of yellow wildflowers are a green gardening choice for their ability to survive on their own in the Midwest without a lot of extra input of care and chemicals.

Green gardening is easy with wildflowers as they require less input of fertilizers, herbicides, and fungicides when grown under the correct conditions. Wildflowers are easy-care, cost effective choices for the flower bed. These top five choices of yellow wildflowers are all non-invasive and native to or adapted to the Midwest garden zones.

Top 5 Yellow Wildflowers

Indian Blanket (Gaillardia pulchella)

• Full Sun
• Annual
• Up to 2 feet tall
• Zones 3 to 10

These daisy like flowers are yellow with red pinwheel design. They are native to the North American Plains but will grow anywhere in zones 3 to 10. Indian Blankets prefer average to dry soil and are very easy to start from seed.

Toadflax/ Baby snapdragon (Linaria maroccana)

• Full sun to light shade
• Annual
• Under 2 feet tall
• Zones 3 to 10

Toadflax is also very easy to grow from seed. They grow quickly, bloom heavily and die with the first frost. Early to mid season they have put on short spike of tiny iris like flowers. They bloom in a rainbow of colors and bi-colors including yellow, blue, purple, white, pink and red.

Missouri Primrose (Oenothera missouriensis)

• Full sun
• Perennial
• 1 to 1 ½ feet tall
• Zones 4 to 9

These wildflowers are native to Missouri, Texas, and Nebraska. The plants are covered with large, open, four petal flowers early to mid-season. When in full bloom these flowers practically glow in a bright neon-like yellow. They form expanding clumps which transplant easily.

Desert Marigold ( Baileya multiradiata)

• Full sun
• Annual
• Up to 2 feet tall
• Zones 3 to 10

Native to southwestern U.S. deserts this striking flower prefers dry, sandy soil. They are adaptable to zones 3 to 10. The Desert Marigold features big, beautiful, long-stem, daisy-like blooms in mid-season. They may reseed if seed falls on bare soil.

Maxmillions Sunflower (Helianthus maximiliani )

• Full sun
• Perennial
• Up to 8 feet tall
• Zones 3 to 8

Native to the North American Plains and Southwestern U.S., this large perennial is easy to start from seed. After it is established, the spreading clumps are easily transplanted. It blooms in the late season with branching daisy-like flowers.

Seed Sources

Sunny yellow wildflowers are a great choice for green gardening. Thanks to the internet it is easier than ever to find seed suppliers for wildflowers. Suppliers are also a great source of information. These suppliers are a good place to start for Midwest gardeners:

http://www.vermontwildflowerfarm.com/

http://www.americanmeadows.com/

http://www.wildflowermix.com/

If you enjoyed this article, perhaps, you would enjoy these gardening articles by the same author:

• Five Blue Wildflowers for Green Gardening in the Midwest

• Growing Native Plants in the Illinois Landscape

• Tips and Tricks for Beautiful Potted Flowers

Sources:

http://www.wildflowerinformation.org/WhatIsAWildflower.asp