Many
developed countries use wildflowers for beautification for the
same reasons we do here in North America. The impact of
urbanization on the environment leaves us with fewer
opportunities to experience nature on a daily basis.
Wildflower plantings are one way of bringing beauty and
contact with nature back into our lives.
In Australia and South Africa, the
‘native’ plants are used in landscaping but to my knowledge
they are not sold as mixtures of seeds that attempt to
recreate the herbaceous plant community of a given bioregion
within those countries.
In many European countries, the
definition of what constitutes a ‘wildflower’ is restricted to
native species only. In some cases, it is required that
‘wildflower’ seed be only obtained by harvesting it in the
wild—it cannot be cultivated and be sold as wildflower seed.
In so-called ‘developing’ countries,
the relative level of economic affluence may not allow for
significant expenditures for landscaping.
