Friday, July 31, 2009

Wild about Wildflowers

Native Jewel Weed, an Impatient
One of Many Zinnias
Black EYed Susan
Oh So Delicate Cosmos, The Color Puple...
So Much Life Going On Here!

This Spring, I posted about getting ready to seed several areas with wild flowers. Two of the areas are a disappointment, at least this year,... hope springs eternally in the garden for the next year! But the third area, the "hummingbird garden" has been a real joy! I also added many collected seeds to a purchased mix, coming from Wild Seed Farms. The area has a diagonal path that leads to the Bee yard at the back of the garden, so I would be "forced" to meander through a glorious swath of annual blooms, life is tough some times, No? This season is all about Cosmos, Zinnias, Black Eyed Susans, Queen Ann's lace, Silenes...many annuals. I'm not an annual nut, but you sure get a great deal of color in a hurry!

I have also added trumpet Lilies, wild Bergamot, Verbena....this is a garden in the making, but you do indeed hear the hummingbirds buzz through, and the resident Bumblebees are in Bee heaven! The native perennials will make their appearance next year, and the year after that...LOTS of milkweeds (Asclepias), more kinds of Asters, the list is quite extensive! I even spotted some Jack in the Pulpits that had survived the dense prairie grass prior to the clearing of the site.

6 comments:

  1. Enjoying your pictures. According to Euell Gibbons, JewelWeed is good for poison ivy and grows close by to the dreaded plant. I haven't found that to be so...but I do enjoy the flower.

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  2. KSR, Euell would be correct, and it works!! just gave some to a friend with a bad case of poison Ivy, I've thought about bottling the stuff!

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  3. I couldn't leave without commenting since there was so much that rang my bell.

    I'm 'Wild about Wildflowers'.
    Jewelweed is one of my favorites.
    I live just outside the hamlet of Morley.

    ...and I've been looking for Box Turtles since the Turtle Crossing road sign went up near my house. There's a count going on trying to get an idea just how many of these endangered turtles are left in the area.

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  4. Your garden is alive with all the beatiful, colourful wildflowers. Its great!

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  5. Hi Brian,
    So happy to find you on Blotanical! I do wish I had a place for a wildflower meadow in my tiny plot. There's less and less sun each year as the trees on neighboring properties grow ever taller (and I do mean tall - a mature redwood and cedar). Best, Alice

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  6. Hello Brian;

    I just wrote to Lynn at http://bestinbloomtoday.blogspot.com about impatiens being useful for poison ivy. I see others have noted the same use. I had a beautiful shade garden built within an old barn foundation but the garden fell into neglect last year as I moved to a new nursery away from our house. Today the whole place is 3-4 feet deep in wild impatiens, growing with great energy because of 15" (yes 15!) in July.
    The impatiens are easy to pull but their "Touch Me Not" common name becomes obvious when you do pull them as they send seeds catapaulting through the air. I think about 99.9% germinate when they land.

    George Africa
    The Vermont Gardener
    http://thevermontgardener.blogspot.com
    Vermont Flower Farm
    http://vermontflowerfarm.com

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