Wildflowers

Diversifying into Wildflowers

Approximately thirty landholders are growing Australian and South African native plants. The industry is at the young stage where about forty different varieties are being grown, some of them as experimental patches. There is an increasing interest in networking and sharing of information by growers through discussion groups.

The map shows generally where land is suitable for wildflowers but different varieties may have more specific requirements. It is essential to have a supplementary water supply of about 2 ML per ha available.

Exports have grown consistently over the last few years, from $5m in 19995/96 to $10m currently. It is essential that market research be conducted both before and after commencing in the industry, as specifications vary enormously and consumer taste is constantly changing.

This map of biophysical suitability for Wildflowers has been developed by the Centre for Land Protection Research, DPI. It applies to the dryland parts of the Goulburn Broken region. The map has been developed using the Most Limiting Factor method. The factors and critical values used for determining the biophysical suitability are shown in the table below. Please refer to Important Notes about these maps.

Biophysical Suitability for Wildflowers

Factors and critical values used for determining the biophysical suitability for wildflowers:

FACTOR	CRITICAL VALUE
	High probability of being suitable	Moderate probability of being suitable	Low probability of being suitable
CLIMATE
Mean cumulative days of frost during spring (Sept., Oct. and Nov.)	< 10	10 - 15	> 15
Maximum temperature of hottest month (Feb.)	< 40	> 40
LANDSCAPE
Slope (%)	0.5 - 15	<0.5 and 15-25	>25
SOIL
Surface pH	5 - 7	4 - 5 and 7 - 8.5	< 4 and > 8.5
Salinity (discharge site)	absent	present
Useable soil depth (cm)	> 50	< 50
Soil drainage (surface & sub-surface)	Moderately well drained (4), Well drained (5), Rapidly drained (6)	Imperfectly drained (3)	Poorly drained (2), Very poorly drained (1)

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