What I'm Working On.....Legacy Plantings

It doesn't really matter what your age is. If you are one of us lucky ones, you have an early memory about a garden. In those memories live plants. Did your grandmother gather the peonies and refrigerate them just before Memorial Day (only we called it decoration day). Did you pick the daffodils each year at your home or at a relative's country home? Did you enjoy the smell of the hyacinths and the fleeting beauty of the bearded iris? What about the shrub roses and old fashioned climbers? 

There are many a memory made in an Ozarks Garden. I am working on an article with photographs that I hope will kindle some of those memories and perhaps inspire you to make some new ones!

Wishing you the best of weeks, wherever you garden. ~JB was here.

To Sprout a Wildflower Seed Do This~

Germination of Wildflower Seed (Coneflower)

Did you know that many wildflower seeds including the purple Coneflower, need a process known as "stratification" before they can sprout? The Purple Coneflower, or Echinacea Purpurea, is one such example.

If you plant the seeds in the fall, you don't have to do anything special. You just start by making sure you have a clean slate, in other words, you need to be sure you have killed or otherwise removed any existing vegetation. Sow the seeds on surface, preferrably in the late fall or early winter. Don't cover the seeds, just press them in or better yet, let the impending winter weather do that for you, just like in the wild. To control weeds the first season,cut the flowers and the weeds back to a height of six inches each time they reach a foot.

If you are planting seeds in the spring, and you do not have four to six weeks left before the last frost, here's what to do. To stratify the seeds, place them with an equal or larger volume of soiless planting medium or sand, in a plastic bag. Add water to make moist but NOT wet. Leave them at room temperature for 24 hours. Then check your moisture and add sand or a little more water if needed. Label the bag and place in the refrigerator for 4-6 weeks. Maintain the seeds as moist but not too wet or dry during the time they are cooled. Then-you are ready to plant as described above!

This is a series of Coneflower images from my garden that I cropped square,textured and made into a collage. I find their forms very graceful, yet strong. I like how long the blooms last, and that they are an attractant to summer visitors such as butterflies. The Coneflower is an enjoyable native plant to Missouri that I plan to have many more of in my garden/lawn in the future.

I hope if you stopped by you are having an amazing day wherever you garden. :)

~JB was here.

The Butterfly Show

This summer had it's bright spots even with the terrible heat and drought. We had an abundance of butterflies. I did studies when I could which mostly consisted of taking my camera with me when I walked every day and capturing what I could of the variety and numbers of them. I hope to have a butterfly garden this next summer. I planted it last week so it really could happen! I planted wildflowers native to Missouri, and they will be mixed, at least at first, with other annuals and perrenials that the butterflies, hummers and birds will like. Below is a slide show of some of my summer's passtime. This is in flash so you will need to have adobe flash to play it. It won't show on an ipad unless you have a work around for that. Sorry.

On My Mind: Wildlife Habitat

I can't believe I spent most of my life until now, taking a bunch of this stuff, sadly, for granted. One needs to try to be a part of the environment and ecosystem instead of always trying to bend everything to be about THEM. I've always been on the fringes of this and didn't know it, living on a farm and trying to be a benefactor to living things that share the space I'm in, but, having taken on a new awareness over time, I now do try to be even more conscious of everything I'm doing, that I'm not always taking from the earth, which after all, sustains all of us. I want more than ever to try to be a part of the solution, as opposed to a part of the problem.

Now, with that rather vague introduction out of the way, I'd like to talk about a way everyone can make their surroundings, no matter where they are, more friendly to wildlife. Whether you live in a rooftop apartment or in the middle of the country like I do, there are ways you can make it easier for your little world to be…..where the wild things are. Birds, butterflies and other beneficial insects as well as animals are highly adaptable. They wouldn't still be here if they weren't, to a degree.  

One way is to create a wildlife habitat. Really there are four things that are the underpinning of a wildlife friendly area, and a lot of them are much the same as we humans need. 1. Food 2. Water 3. Cover 4. A Place to Raise Young

There is a lot of information pertaining to this at the website of the National Wildlife Federation www.nwf.org Below is a screenshot the area they have where you can certify your own back yard. I don't think I necessarily need to pay a fee and buy a sign to figure out if I have a good place for wildlife or not, but the information there is very useful.

I checked off the areas in which I am strong right now, and it can show you the things you can improve on as well.

With the extreme early dry weather we have had, I have noticed a lot of the birds and other wildlife definitely “needing help” and it made me renew my own efforts in this area.

Besides being something we can all feel really good about doing, it is fun to watch the birds, butterflies, and other wildlife as well.

And you know what I say about the possible damage to your garden crops……Always, always plant enough to share.  

Have a great weekend. ~JB was here.

Coleus Starts

This year I got a little rebellious about the high price of plants. Not that I have anything against the wonderful nurseries-I know that the labor for these things are intensive and inputs are high priced. But I decided to cultivate a little patience and start some of my own plants.

I planted some of the old standby coleus variety “Rainbow” and I think every seed sprouted. I love the colors, textures and shapes and they really brighten up the shady areas. And I'm so glad I planted the seeds….I mean seriously, what's cuter than a baby coleus plant?

I hope everyone is having a wonderful memorial day weekend. Take a moment to honor our servicemen and women with a silent, respectful reflection on the freedoms we have. ~JB was here.