IT'S TIME TO PLANT NATIVE FLOWERS.

Byline: Peggy Hager Staff Writer

PALMDALE - With the ground still damp from unexpected fall storms, now is the time to sow wildflower seeds for spring blossoms.

Spring is wildflower time in the Antelope Valley, but the time to plant to get spring blooms is now through about mid-January.

``If you sow seeds now, then four months or so from now you can expect some kind of bloom,'' said Laima Harmon, seed-room coordinator at Sun Valley-based Theodore Payne Foundation. ``Seedlings may get eaten by birds or other creatures, but usually some seed makes it.''

The Payne Foundation sells hundreds of varieties of seeds from wildflowers that grow all over California. The organization even offers a desert tortoise mix that will be ready with fresh spring sprouts for tortoises when they awake from their winter hibernation.

Harmon offered some recommendations for successfully growing wildflowers from seeds:

To prepare the soil, lightly rake it, breaking it up to a depth of 2-3 inches.

The area to be planted needs to be free of weeds and annual grasses as the wildflowers cannot compete with the rapidly growing weeds and grasses.

If there's a long period between rainstorms, the seeds should be watered by hand, especially if warm Santa Ana winds develop.

Poppies will sprout in five days. Other seedlings may take two weeks to a month to sprout.

``We do not recommend covering the seed when you sow it, because some seeds need light to germinate, and if you have a heavy hand the seeds could be buried very deeply,'' Harmon said.

Seeds can be ordered online, by mail or by fax and are shipped within a few days. The organization is located at 10459 Tuxford St. in Sun Valley. Call [phone] or visit www.theodorepayne.org.

The Antelope Valley Conservation District Nursery and Arboretum, located at 10148 W. Ave. I west of Lancaster, offers 33 different varieties of wildflower seeds for $1 a packet, which covers an area 10 feet by 10 feet. The area will take two to three growing seasons to completely fill in. The nursery also offers bulk seeds in a desert-wildflower mixture and a low-profile mixture. Call [phone].

Private firms also sell wildflowers over the Internet.

Outsidepride.com offers seeds for wildflowers including baby blue eyes, bird's eyes, blazing star, blue sage, California poppy, chicory, four-o'clock, forget-me-not, Johnny jump-up and primroses. The Wildflower Seed Co. of Napa Valley, at www.wildflower-seed.com, offers a California native mix that includes 14 flower varieties from all over the state.

Peggy Hager, [phone]

peggy.grimm-hager(at)dailynews.com