Part of Häagen-Dazs’ campaign for honeybees is a plantable page of wildflower seeds, which I would think is a great idea, except for one thing: there’s no indication of what the seeds actually are. The thrill of discovery is fine and dandy, but when one’s gardens (or more precisely one’s mother’s gardens) get all the randomization they need from the Evil Burrowing and Digging Mammals featuring Kindergarten Squirrels* and Friends, an unknown set of seeds won’t find itself on the way-too-long list of things that need planted. (Before you think this means we hate the honeybees, allow me to say that we do not. They give us apples, pears, and quinces, and we give them absurd amounts of flowers in return.)
I’ve used my admittedly deficient Googling to try to dig up a list of included seeds, but I’ve found nothing besides the standard “it’s wildflowers!” Does anyone happen to know what the page really contains?
*The younger set of squirrels last year was much smaller at first, so they were the Kindergarten Squirrels.
I can’t tell you in what sense they’re using “wildflowers”, but from a beekeeper’s perspective it means anything in bloom and yielding forage or honey flow that is extracurricular to human tending.
Practically speaking, and possibly addressing your concerns, wildflowers are often considered weeds.
Anecdotally, wildflower seeds offered from outside your region might have marginal success.
My mother is almost certain the page has at least California poppies, which counts as a weed in our garden, but I’m hoping Haagen-Dazs wouldn’t be so stupid as to include purple loosestrife.
Zsofia makes an excellent point regarding treasure and terror. Perhaps you could contact the seed company via Haagen-Dazs to ID the contents. Temperate zoning has a bearing on invasiveness.
BTW, loosestrife makes a nice honey where it is so preponderant as to be the single nectar source.