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.

My Birdfeeder Setup

My birdfeeder setup is really simple. I need something that doesn't spoil easily, so I use the upright column feeders, that, by the way, are (supposed to be) squirrel-proof. I think that is mostly true. I stopped seeing so much seed wasted when I started using them, a very good thing, and I never have seen a squirrel hanging on one. I keep them on a pretty light limb, too so that maybe they'll fall off if they try. I'm a little mean that way. :)

Here's my setup.

Have a nice weekend! I have found that my germination posts seem to be pretty in demand so I'm going to do another post perhaps this weekend, regarding wildflower seed and stratification. Stay tuned!

~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.