Consumer Preferences in Mixed Prairie Wildflower Plantings

• Published in: HortScience Vol. 33; no. 3; p. 450
• Main Authors: Davis, G.L, Schimelfenig, J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01-06-1998
• ISSN: 0018-5345; 2327-9834
• DOI: 10.21273/HORTSCI.33.3.450c

A goal of this study is to establish temporal evaluations of the problems homeowners may encounter when establishing mixed prairie wildflower plantings. These plantings are often attempted with the notion that the composition of the planting will remain static over time with little or no maintenance. Six combinations of wildflowers and prairie grasses were compared for consumer preference. A survey was conducted at the long-term forbs research plots during the Festival of Color, an open house event at the John Seaton Anderson Turfgrass and Ornamental Research Area, Univ. of Nebraska Agricultural Research Development Center near Mead, Neb. Of the 9000 participants in the festival, ≈850 visited the plots. Of those, nearly 300 completed the survey instrument. Results from the first year indicate that the majority of respondents were homeowners who do their own yard work. Most of them considered a low maintenance landscape to be an important way in which to conserve resources such as water and fertilizer and reduce pesticide use. Most had grown prairie wildflowers and considered them to be low maintenance. The study showed that, depending on the planting composition, it would require between 59 and 118 h of weeding to establish wildflowers in the majority of respondents' home landscapes, which were between 1717 m
2
and 1525 m
2
. The majority (56%) of visitors preferred combinations that included annuals but excluded prairie grasses. The majority (66%) disliked the combinations of prairie grasses without the inclusion of wildflowers.