Prairie dropseed would look nicer and would probably do a better job of keeping out weeds.

Not a good idea. Red fescue is a sod-forming turf grass, which will compete for growing space with your flower mix. I'm not sure, but red fescue (like its widely-planted relative, tall fescue) may even produce allelopathic chemicals that are toxic to surrounding plants.

You would be much better of planting native, warm-season prairie grasses. Some of the larger species, such as big bluestem and indian grass, may be too aggressive and overwhelm your flowers. However, there are several smaller, bunch-forming grasses that make good companions to wild flowers, such as little bluestem, prairie dropseed, and sideoats grama. These grasses will tend to fill in around your flowers, providing support for tall flower stalks, preventing weed invasions, and providing nice visual interest during the seasons when the flowers are dormant.

my opinion is that creeping red fescue tends to be clumpy, spreads via rhizomes yet leaves alot of bare soil...it may be too competitive for an early planting...

intead of creeping red fescue, a better choice might be annual rye and spring oats mixed in with the native flower mix. both of those will grow quickly in the first year to establish cover but will not out compete the natives in the second or third year. your native flower mix sounds great. personally i would add some native grasses to the mix - a little bit of little blue stem, prairie drop seed and side oats grama will provide a better planting. the flowers tend to fall over or grow to mutant proportions when planted without the grasses. the grasses will fill in the gaps between the flowers... the grasses do tend to take over a little bit but they can be controlled if necessary.

fyi. i have a bit of problem with brown eyed susan in my planting being very aggressive. i've had to dig awhole bunch out to keep it from taking over and i have been removing the flower heads to keep them from going to seed in the future... that may be just my soil condition though.

in addition you may want to consider some later bloomers in the flower mix to add extend some color into the fall perhaps some asters and boneset.

i would agree with what everyone said.

but johnstaci mentioned erosion control. native areas are notoriously slow. as everyone mentioned that these fescues suck when trying to build a native area but they provide excellent erosion control, and if that is your main issue, then that is ur main issue. there is matting, straw bales, and other ways of controlling moving soil surfaces. another consideration are the fast growing native cool season grasses like the wild ryes and fescues.

anyhow that is my 2 cents worth.

froggy

Yes, the area is highly erodable. That is my #1 goal- to prevent erosion. It will be a large area too...about 15 acres, so cost of seed is my #2 concern. I think the combination of these two factors make creeping red fescue my best option. Do these wildflowers have any chance growing along side creeping red fescue or should I just scrap the wildflower idea altogether???

creeping red fescue does not have the right root structure to prevent erosion. the roots are not dense or fibrous enough to hold soil. the grass itself tends to be clumpy leaving areas of bare soil exposed. where did you get the information that it was good for erosion control?

the best long term solution for erosion control are the native grasses because they have deep and dense fibrous root systems that hold soil much better than most any other plantings. the native grass create a mat-like sponge of biomass on the ground to reduce surface runoff as well. the native grasses are slow growers so a typical erosion control mix contains a mix of annual rye, spring oats, and native grasses. the rye and oats provide very quick cover for temporary surface control until the native grasses get established and take over for longterm permanant soil control. the oats and rye dont compete with the grasses in the long run. a rhizomatus plant like creeping red fescue could inhibit the growth of natives and does not have the dense fibrous root structure that is required to hold soil and prevent erosion.

in areas that experience heavy soil moving erosion like a creek bank or a floodplain - it is common practice to install a coir mesh/webbing over the top of native grass seeded planting. the mesh holds the soil and seed and acts as mulch until the grass gets established... once the grass is established the mesh is no longer required and eventually decomposes.