From Left, Oklahoma Department of Transportation Employees, David Chaney, James Bacon, Kevin Chumley and Donald Green, planted 68 pounds of native wildflower seeds on Friday, Dec. 6 in Rush Springs.

Story by Monica Bartling, Chair, Color Oklahoma

              RUSH SPRINGS, OK Dec. 9, 2024 Color Oklahoma, a committee of the Oklahoma Native Plant Society, and the Oklahoma Department of Transportation (ODOT) planted 68 pounds of wildflower seeds in the center median of US HWY 81 just north of the OK HWY 17 intersection in Grady County.  By mid-April the areas should show beautiful red and yellow Gaillardia (commonly known as Indian Blanket) and bright yellow Coreopsis tinctoria (commonly called plains coreopsis or tickseed). Showy Primrose was also planted but it requires two growing seasons to produce flowers.  The showy primrose will produce small pink blossoms that tend to spread quickly the second growing season.

The areas will not be mowed from early spring  to June 30 to allow the wildflowers to bloom and go to seed so the flowers can come back each spring and continue to repopulate the area with native wildflowers. Color Oklahoma purchased the seeds and the Grady County Division of ODOT under the direction of ODOT Grady County Supervisor, Rick Davis, provided the planting.  Grady County ODOT employees, David Chaney, James Bacon and Donald Green assisted in the planting and Kevin Chumley from ODOT Jefferson County

Planting Wildflower seeds not only helps beautify our highways and interstates across Oklahoma, but also provides food for pollinators. According to the National Wildlife Federation planting wildflower plots is one way to help bees and other pollinators at a local level. Color Oklahoma provided seeds for planting more than 517 pounds of seeds in 9 Oklahoma communities this December and early January.  Seeds are planted in the cold weather because they require a period of cold, moist conditions to break down naturally occurring chemicals in the seeds that inhibit germination. These substances protect the seeds from germinating prematurely such that they wait until the following spring to sprout. This process is called cold stratification

Color Oklahoma was formed in 2002 and receives funding from the sale of wildflower license plates available at your local tag agency or from Service Oklahoma.  The form to order a plate can also be downloaded from the Color Oklahoma website at https://coloroklahoma.com/color-oklahoma-license-plate-order-form/.  If you would like more information on how your municipality or organization can obtain a grant to plant wildflowers in your area, go to coloroklahoma.com or email coloroklahoma@gmail.com.