Yard Pictures: Prairie Garden

[ysabetwordsmith]

I took some pictures today, mostly of places where I'm trying to grow wildflowers.


This is a long view of the prairie garden looking west. The foreground is big bluestem. Just past that you can see part of the path mowed around the edge.


This bare patch in the big bluestem has been sown with Monarch Butterfly Wildflower Seed Mix from American Meadows.


This milkweed is growing at the edge of the big bluestem.


Sunchokes are sprouting alllll over the place. These are in the path. I'm not sure if they're spreading by tubers, seeds, or both. But perhaps in fall I shall start excavating for edible tubers where they don't belong!


Wild strawberries are growing amongst the sunchokes.


This is the strip recently mowed and raked where I sowed wildflower seeds.


This is last year's path through the middle of the prairie garden. It's mostly grass now.


This year's path needs to be raked and sown with grass seed.


This is the wildflower garden in the savanna.


Wood hyacinth is blooming there.


This bare patch in the wildflower garden has been sown with wildflower seeds.


Here is the telephone pole garden. On the left is a black hollyhock. Around the pole are Asiatic lilies.


The hollyhock is starting to form flower buds.


This bare patch has been sown with assorted flower seeds.



We're almost to the end of Three Weeks for Dreamwidth; May 15 is the last day. Does anyone else have garden updates or photos to share? It would help promote this community to more people. If you use the tag "three weeks for dreamwidth" then that post will appear in the feed.

Comments

[pensnest]

I hope there will be updates to show the progress of the garden through the year!

Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

That's the plan. I have no idea if any of the wildflowers will bloom. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. This mix supposedly has both annuals and perennials, so they might. Sometimes I plant things and it looks like nothing and then pops up a year or more later -- the big bluestem never did the "pincushion" thing that grass usually does, but the following season it was a thicket of sharp green leaves. I'm really curious to see if the little bluestem sown in two strips last summer will appear this summer.

One thing that works fairly well is mowing different paths through the middle and sowing grass seed there, so it's not all goldenrod. Though I did learn that goldenrod is actually one of the best wildlife flowers! I didn't pay a dime for mine, it just appeared.

Re: Yes ...

[pensnest]

I have goldenrod in my front garden, which I love as it reminds me of my grandma. She used hers to supplement bought flowers when she did the arrangements for chapel.

Re: Yes ...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Oh that's clever. It is a perfect celestial gold.

[spiralicious]

Thank you for sharing!