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Awwwwwww...good luck!!!! I think it's a good sign. I love blue wildflowers.

Can you get plugs instead of using seeds?

just put in a few lavender and rosemary plants for good smells - birds and squirrels alike ignore these! i do wish your wee blue flowers good luck also.

At last! , a use for AOL discs, or any unusable or old CDs and DVDS, hang them up with fishing line so they twist in the wind and birds will stay away long enough for seeds to sprout. I have used one set for over 5 years and they still work great.
The flash of light freaks out the birds and they stay away.

Once seeds are sprouted and growing good you can take them down if you like and birdies will be back within hours.

i know someone who sprinkles cayenne pepper with the seeds and it always keeps the birds and squirrels away. but when it rains, they come back there go the seeds again.

That poor soil looks parched.

Put compost on top of the soil as mulch after you plant. The plants will come up though it. It may help. If nothing else you'll have healthier soil.

But whether you start from seeds or 4" pots, *use mulch*. It will retain moisture.

If you all your planting from plugs, 4" pots or other established plants, use bark dust as mulch (about $30 a pickup load for premium hemlock). Bark dust will prevent weeds.

Congratulations on your pretty little blue Phacelia -- one of my favorite California wildflowers because of the intense blue.

When did you put down your seed? Planting in spring for summer flowers works in the Northeast, but not in California. For the best results with annual wildflowers in our Mediterranean climate, scatter your seeds just at the beginning of the fall rains. The birds will get a lot, but some will sprout. They'll use the generous rains to build roots, leaves, and stems, then bloom when the rains stop and the pollinators come out. My fall-seeded Phacela has been mostly done for weeks now; the Clarkias and Linanthus are the main blooms left. Try fall planting; you'll get some flowers the first year and lots more the second, as the stuff from the first year re-seeds.

Oh, and most wildflowers will not come up through mulch from seed. Mulch is great around established plants, or plants started from pots, but it won't work for broadcasting wildflower seed.

Have you looked at Larner Seeds's website? They have good info, and seed mixes for some specialized situations -- their shade-tolerant mix has the ground between my house and my fence full of pink and white blooms.

AmphipodGirl is right (and knows all the flower names that I just call "oooh, pretty"). While most folks aren't thinking of wildflowers for the following year in Autumn, that's when to toss them out.

The local poppies are doing fine, and some are going to seed. That seed will just lie around until next spring.

And, yup, the idiots around the water district thingie put down heavy duty tree grindings on top of the just coming into their own poppies earlier this year.

Getting a few flowers this year ought to give you the taste, perhaps enough so that you'll begin to work the soil towards the end of the current blossom's lifespan.

There's a bunch of stuff starting to go to seed around Lake Merced. More will come along later. The bush yellow lupine, whatever it is, that makes a lot of seeds (in pods) and looks pretty and grows into a spreading bush or tree around here. That could be really pretty on a slope too. Check out the image of the yellow flowers here: http://www.lmtf.org/

Besides, it's a nice walk around the lake, and you might be blessed with a sunrise like this one, if you come in the morning:
http://www.sfrowingclub.com/

Wiki link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Merced

If the stuff is growing out here, without watering, it will probably grow with a bit of water wherever you are in S.F.

If by mulch you mean bark dust, yes, that's true. Seeds will not sprout through bark dust. That's one of the reasons people use it.

I was talking about compost as mulch. Anything will come up through compost used as mulch. I put a thick layer of compost over the area where I planted gladiolas and they're coming up fine - as are unwanted weeds.

I've had good luck with scattering seeds and then laying down maybe an inch of soil over them.

It does look like your soil could use more organic matter. Seeds on top of dry soil will not sprout well. Even a light covering of straw or grass clippings will help hold more moisture in.

I often soak my seeds in a very wet paper towel until they begin to sprout, then lay them on the ground with a covering of fine compost, then a light mulch. The water daily until they take. I use water from my rain barrel as it contains no chlorine.

Another thing that will help is to actually prepare the soil instead of tossing seeds around and crossing fingers. Just joking... Take a shovel and dig up the soil for a few inches and level with the rake. The roots will be small and tender and will need to be able to penetrate the soil which looks as hard as concrete in the picture. If you really want to baby those seeds mix compost or potting soil in with the dirt . And fertilize with some time release Osmocote or some Dr Earth's if you want to be organic about it. I use both and think they do well.

Shayna - this is something my neighbor showed me tonight. They bought them ad a "Backyard Bird Shop", I think.

Anyway, they're called "Seed Ballz".

They're like the "seed bombs" from another post but - these need no planting.

The instructions say to just put them on the ground and water them.

And yes, you can buy POPPY SEED BALLZ. :->

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2007/nov/02/clay-balls-protect-seeds-from-sun-wind-and-birds/

http://www.ltdcommodities.com/home/catalog/cat_item_pg.asp?P=89&G=448

http://voices.gardenweb.com/2006/03/seed_ballz.html

http://www2.yardiac.com/long.asp?item_id=38518&

thanks everyone for your fantastic suggestions. i'll keep you posted on the progress!