Santa Monica Mountain Cover Mix

Our Santa Monica Mountain cover seed mix is custom designed and native to California (see distribution map). This mix is a blend of grasses, flowers, and shrubs for revegetation of soil and slopes with plant types that belong in the Santa Monica area. There is a quick start grass to protect soil and allow slower perennials to provide their permanent cover in the years to come. Designed as a non-irrigated mix, irrigation will foster establishment and prolong the blooming period. This mix has been designed with an emphasis on native wildflowers and with special attention to balanced percentages of annuals and perennials.

The colors in bloom will vary at different times of the year, and depending on how much water and sunlight are available to the wildflowers. The colors which you will see at different times of the year will include: blues, purples, pinks, reds, yellows, and oranges.

The actual composition of wildflowers will vary from season to season and from year to year, but generally you will receive the following wildflowers in each order of this mix:
Artemisia californica: California sagebrush
Bromus carinatus: California brome
Bromus carinatus Cucamonga: Cucamonga brome
Camissoniopsis cheiranthifolia: Beach evening primrose
Clarkia purpurea: Wine cup clarkia
Encelia californica: Bush sunflower
Eriogonum cinerum: Coastal buckwheat
Eriogonum fasciculatum: California buckwheat
Eriophyllum confertiflorum: Golden yarrow
Eschscholzia californica: California poppy
Lupinus succulentus: Arroyo lupine
Melica imperfecta: Coast range melic
Mimulus aurantiacus longiflorus: Sticky monkeyflower
Penstemon spectablilis: Royal penstemon
Stipa lepida: Foothill needlegrass
Stipa pulchra: Purple needlegrass
Verbena lasiostachys: Common vervain

This mix will make a great addition to any area of your landscape that you want to enhance the color with wildflowers that are not commonly found in typical store-bought seed mixes, as well as legumes. Many of the seeds in this mix have been hand-harvested from the wild and, until now, have only been available to professional and commercial buyers. Now you can have a beautiful, unique mix of wildflowers that will offer a sense of natural wildflower beauty and locally adapted native plant authenticity in your landscape.

This mix has been a real favorite for sprucing up the color in areas such as:
Meadows
Open fields
Cabin sites
Next to walk-ways
Flower gardens
Window boxes
Hillsides and other sloped areas
Any area with partial to full sun and available moisture (rainfall or irrigation).

This wildflower mix contains no grasses and no fillers. We pride ourselves on our professional-grade wildflower seeds. Many of our customers may want to partner this mix with a low-growing grass. In these circumstances, we recommend sheep fescue. Sheep fescue is a low-growing grass that establishes quickly, helping fill in gaps between wildflowers and creating a meadow-like look. Because it's a short-growing bunchgrass, it won’t hide the beauty of the wildflowers. Sheep fescue is a great compliment to this wildflower mix. We recommend buying about a half pound of sheep fescue for every 2000 sq ft (1 lb.) of wildflower mix. This amount may be increased or decreased depending on your desired ratio of wildflowers to grass.