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Around the Garden
Aug. 9th, 2023 08:51 amSome of my long time readers may know that last year I won a grant to plant a micro-habitat in my yard for the bees. The program was called Lawns2Legumes and they don't really give you a whole lot? What you get is a few hundred dollars reimbursement for plants purchased, a phone call from a master gardener, a couple of Q&A Zoom meetings, and a lot of brochures on how-to do it YOURSELF. That probably sounds like a dis, but I actually think that this is a situation where the program is doing everything it can with the money it has. They can't come build it for you, but they do everything they can to encourage you do finally do The Thing.
I'm currently in the hardest part of this project which is maintenance.
For anyone curious, here's a post from when it started: https://lydamorehouse.dreamwidth.org/615516.html
Here's what things are looking like today:
Image: Garden path today
So--it's kind of a hot mess? But, there are several successes that will inform where I go from here. The purple cone flower, which was a donation from my friend Gerriann's well-established native garden, is doing great this year. It seems to be in the right place for it. Since the thin-leafed versions that I planted of it elsewhere in this garden never managed to take off. Although my understanding is that a lot of these plants take a looooooooooong time to establish themselves, so I won't give up hope on them for a few more years yet. They may also be in the wrong spot? I thought I'd found a good sunny patch for them, but perhaps it's the wrong kind of sun.
I think the most exciting success is this guy:
Image: FANCY/FUNKY blue lobelia (pink flamingos in background.)
I didn't remember planting this, but boy am I ever glad I did. I wasn't sure if it was native or invasive so I ended up taking a picture of it for Google to search. Google directed me to a UK website, which described blue lobelia as "a most agreeable wildflower." Going on to note that "it self-seeds politely, forming a nice clump without becoming a nuisance." And, I'm sorry, I just WANT such a polite, agreeable plant, don't you?? Plus, I double checked and, as linked under the picture, this is a native plant to MINNESOTA, as well.
Much to Shawn's delight, the other plant that is doing extremely well in this garden is the brown (or black, I'm not sure,)-eyed susans.
Brown-eyed susans, probably.
Lots of other things just didn't make it or will have to be moved to sunnier spots. The good news is that I failed to get some of my leaves up off the boulevard last year and now there is a nice dead patch that could also use a nice, native planting. I can potentially move some of the ones aren't doing great without a lot of sun there, next year.
I'm currently in the hardest part of this project which is maintenance.
For anyone curious, here's a post from when it started: https://lydamorehouse.dreamwidth.org/615516.html
Here's what things are looking like today:
Image: Garden path today
So--it's kind of a hot mess? But, there are several successes that will inform where I go from here. The purple cone flower, which was a donation from my friend Gerriann's well-established native garden, is doing great this year. It seems to be in the right place for it. Since the thin-leafed versions that I planted of it elsewhere in this garden never managed to take off. Although my understanding is that a lot of these plants take a looooooooooong time to establish themselves, so I won't give up hope on them for a few more years yet. They may also be in the wrong spot? I thought I'd found a good sunny patch for them, but perhaps it's the wrong kind of sun.
I think the most exciting success is this guy:
Image: FANCY/FUNKY blue lobelia (pink flamingos in background.)
I didn't remember planting this, but boy am I ever glad I did. I wasn't sure if it was native or invasive so I ended up taking a picture of it for Google to search. Google directed me to a UK website, which described blue lobelia as "a most agreeable wildflower." Going on to note that "it self-seeds politely, forming a nice clump without becoming a nuisance." And, I'm sorry, I just WANT such a polite, agreeable plant, don't you?? Plus, I double checked and, as linked under the picture, this is a native plant to MINNESOTA, as well.
Much to Shawn's delight, the other plant that is doing extremely well in this garden is the brown (or black, I'm not sure,)-eyed susans.
Brown-eyed susans, probably.
Lots of other things just didn't make it or will have to be moved to sunnier spots. The good news is that I failed to get some of my leaves up off the boulevard last year and now there is a nice dead patch that could also use a nice, native planting. I can potentially move some of the ones aren't doing great without a lot of sun there, next year.