Wild About Wild Flowers
One Texas farm produces seeds for the nation.
John Thomas stands in a field at Wildseed Farms near Fredericksburg, Texas (pop. 8,911), and surveys the surrounding canvas of mixed wildflowers—black-eyed Susans, purple coneflowers, white daisies, red and orange California poppies, yellow coreopsis and pink buttercups. He knows that next spring the seeds from his farm will blanket the edges of highways across America.
In all, Thomas’ wildflower business supplies seed for 29 state highway departments, including those in Florida, Maryland, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
"One of the greatest treasures of spring is the diversity of color provided by wildflowers along our highways," Thomas says. "When I travel this great country of ours and see the color in the pastures and on the roadsides, it makes me proud to have a small part in it."
A passion blooms
Thomas grew up working at his father’s ranch near the Texas Gulf Coast, fascinated by the blooming flowers his father wanted to kill so his cattle would have more grass to eat. One day he observed people taking photographs of their children in the bluebonnets along the roadside. "While people were looking at wildflowers, I was looking at the people," says Thomas, who lives in Fredericksburg. "I could tell people loved color. And I knew there was an interest—and thus a market."
However, when he asked for acreage to plant a crop of wildflowers, his family scoffed at the idea. Texas farmers planted and sold rice, cotton and corn, he was reminded. "How can you expect to make a living growing flowers?" they asked.
But in 1983, Ralph Thomas, a third-generation farmer-rancher, finally allowed his son John to plant wildflowers on a few acres. The younger Thomas started his enterprise by growing bluebonnets for the Texas Highway Department and made $60,000 on his first seed production. "Dad began to pick up the seeds in his hand as if he were holding gold," Thomas says with a laugh.
Today, Wildseed Farms is one of the most successful wildflower production farms in the nation, with 65 employees that include horticulturists and botanists. Eighty-eight varieties of seeds are collected on 200 scattered acres in the Texas Hill Country near Fredericksburg, and on another 1,000 acres in Eagle Lake, Texas (pop. 3,664), along the Gulf Coast. Last year, the farms harvested 50,000 pounds of bluebonnet seeds—70 percent of the world’s supply.
Although Marilyn Thomas, John’s wife of 35 years, was "not sure at first how anyone could make a living raising wildflowers," she now helps run the business. "He’s a visionary who knows what he wants and methodically makes it happen—one step at a time," she says. "He thinks wildflowers 24 hours a day."
Walking among the wildflowers
While Wildseed Farms primarily supplies seed for state highway departments, Thomas also has built a successful sightseeing attraction at his Fredericksburg farm. "I was the first working (wildflower) farm to open my fields to the public," he says. "We get a lot of people stopping here. I’ve seen cars come to a screeching halt and tour buses pass by, only to turn around at the insistence of the passengers. People seem to really enjoy the opportunity to walk among the wildflowers and touch them."
Some take home packages of seeds or potted plants for their own gardens; others photograph their children sitting in a field of bluebonnets. Inside the Butterfly Haus, visitors find a 3,000-square-foot live butterfly exhibit, where they learn about individual species and what plants attract them. Along the half mile of walking trails, tourists view beautifully landscaped gardens surrounded by 40 acres of production fields.
More than 200,000 visitors annually take the leisurely stroll on crushed clay paths amid cosmos, larkspur, Indian blanket, poppies, primrose, tickseed, yarrow and verbena. During blooming season, which begins in March and lasts until the first frost, visitors can identify dozens of varieties of wildflowers that vary by season. A field of red poppies in the springtime may be a field of cosmos or zinnias when guests return for a summer visit.
Toni Ann Wallace, who drove to Wildseed Farms from Florida, recalls seeing the bluebonnets a mile before reaching the front gate. "They were a sea of blue which seemed to extend beyond the horizon," she says.
Marsha Greasley says the butterfly house with hundreds of brilliantly colored butterflies was itself worth the trip from Lexington, Ky. Her husband, Phil, was so impressed by the blooming landscape that he bought seeds from the gift shop to take home some of the beauty.
Beautifying America
Keith Sowell, landscape coordinator at the Alabama Department of Transportation, has visited the farm twice since 1988. Because Alabama’s seeding efforts had not been altogether successful, Sowell asked Thomas to come to Alabama and train state employees on how to plant wildflowers. "John was instrumental in getting our program off the ground," Sowell says. "Although we purchased a drill seeder that he invented, I felt that he wasn’t just interested in selling something. He wanted to help us prepare beds properly."
Today, stretches along Alabama highways boast 15,000 acres of black-eyed Susans, cosmos, tickseed, crimson clover and gaillardia. Every point of entry into the state has two miles of wildflowers blooming in the medians, which Sowell sees as "our welcome mat." Now Alabama plants 22 tons of seed annually along its highways and follows Thomas’ guidelines for soil preparation. Much of the seed is sown 35 feet off the roadsides so mowing and maintenance can be done without disturbing the flowers.
Highway officials have found that once established, wildflowers can save time and money because they require less maintenance than many other plants. They also add diverse color, beauty and variety to state landscapes. In West Virginia, more than 250 wildflower sites dot state highways, and North Carolina maintains 20 varieties of roadside wildflowers.
Thomas hopes that travelers who see them are inspired to plant their own wildflowers, beautifying their homes and towns.
"Someday I hope everyone will be able to pick bouquets of yellow, red and orange wildflowers from their front yards and gardens, too," he says. "Then we really will be America the Beautiful."
Visit www.wildseedfarms.com or call (800) 848-0078 for more information.
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