Today marks the beginning of the second full week of Spring in the northern hemisphere, even if some of us are stuck in second winter. Share your garden goals, projects, challenges, and successes for this growing season; share your tips, tricks, and garden hacks, or anything else you’d like. Let’s all help each other grow something beautiful together!
If folks are into it, I’d like to make this a weekly thread for everyone to share updates and assistance as the year progresses. Please let me know if that’s something you’d all like.
We planted a lot of native seeds last fall in the small section between our fence and the ally. I am really hoping the Bush’s Poppy Mallow, partridge pea, and pussytoes come up. I have a lot more but those are my top three. I am also hoping the violets we planted are coming up. It looked like they were coming in before the early spring snow hit. I ordered some Ramps from prairie moon that I am waiting to arrive. Hopefully the grow in our new shade garden where we planted a variety of shade plants
I’m finding shade really challenging for native plants.
Things that are supposed to work, like Canada anemone and wild ginger are surviving but not thriving, and my Ostrich ferns have been anemic at best.
I threw in some Zig zag goldenrod, beard tongue, and obedient plant seeds last fall though, so we’ll see what happens this year.
I think most natives need shade under trees so they get seasonal sun in the spring. Also I think leaf litter is important. But I’m not sure since they are still in seed
The seeds may take more than 1 winter to germinate, even coming from prairie moon (love them!), just FYI. Our first fall in our house I seeded an area with some native flowers. It took 2 springs before some of them came up and others didn’t show until the 3rd spring.
I am trying to temper my expectations because I know it might take a while. I’m just so excited. We’re pulling up some garden barrier this spring and going to be putting down wild ginger. I want to put down tons of types to see what comes up. I know there are tons of beautiful ones that take multiple years to germinate.
I’m with you - I have a few perennials we’re attempting to grow from seed that need cold/warm/cold stratification to germinate and it’s hard not to be excited for when they finally start popping
Its nice to have something that takes a few years to finish and becoming fully beautiful but its hard to wait. Its been a long winter
I love meeting other people who are growing natives! Our first summer the neighbors offered to help us reseed our grass because of our bare patches that hadn’t germinated. They thought our grass had just died. Now they come and collect some of our seeds for their own flower beds!
Our columbine has really struggled which I still can’t figure out because it grows so well naturally in our wood edge along the road. The big-leaved aster and birds-foot violets do well though, as well as some typically more prairie species. And the ostrich ferns only like the south exposure side of our porch, but they’ve taken hold well there. I should consider ginger, I always find some along one of our favorite hiking trails nearby.