The Meadow: Two Months In

It's been a little over two months since I got to work on my wildflower meadow for the season. I'm pretty pleased with the way it's going, though weed control is going to be an issue for a while. I must pull at least 3 bushels of crabgrass and other undesireables every week, and I still don't seem to be making much headway. But my flowers and native grasses are thriving. Here are a few pics.

This is daisy fleabane. It's been blooming for about three weeks now. This batch is on the wane, but I have several other plants with blooms about to open. Fleabane is quite widespread in my neighborhood to begin with. In years past, I used to mow over quite a bit that was trying to establish itself in my year. Now I welcome it.



Spiderwort came into bloom about a week and a half ago. Last year this plant had two small blooms, then nothing. It looks like I'll have flowers for quite a while to come this season. You can see one of my crude weed control measures in this one-an old piece of paneling with a chunk of wood to weigh it down. Where I have large unbroken swaths of weeds, I put one of these down. I've only done this in a few eligible spots, and will probably add more. It's not pretty, but I'm trying to avoid chemicals if at all possible.



Foxglove bloomed around the same time as the spiderwort.



I wasn't the only one happy about that.



I got a pleasant surprise last week when one of the columbines I planted this spring bloomed. I wasn't expecting flowers on those until next year.



The black eyed susans have looked like they were on the verge of opening for nearly a week. Today, the first one finally did.



Here's a larger view of one of the thicker parts of the garden. Nearly everything you see here that's over two inches high consists of native wildflowers and grasses.



I've got a few more years of work to get this really established. But in the meantime, I'll be reaping lots of blooming rewards.

Tag: Gardening