New Wildflower Enclosures

I've mentioned that the newly leveled areas in the back yard are being made into mostly wildflowers and some selected shrubs.  The first thing to do is set the edging into the ground.  I'm delayed on that because of the rain.  That newly-exposed soil is so loose that the rain has made it too muddy to walk on. 

But at least I can plan on what I'm going to plant there.  First, the nearest edged area is going to be mostly wildflowers with some existing  Goldenrods, Purple Coneflowers, and Black-Eyed-Susans transplanted from existing locations for structure.  The rain has been a good thing for that.  The soil is now deeply moist and that will encourage roots to grow deep rather than shallow.  And when you dig up existing plants, the rootballs hold together better when moist compared to dry dusty soil like I had until several days ago.  And the plants will be full of moisture themselves and less like to suffer transplant shock when some of their roots are cut off in the move.

And it occurred to me that I could plant a LOT of Spring-flowering bulbs in that area for blooms before the wildflowers grow and bloom in Summer.  But the wildflower seeds need to be scattered and raked in soon, while the transplants and bulbs need to planted in early November. 

So that left an awkward situation.  I didn't want to waste a lot of wildflower seeds by planting them next week, and then digging them up to add transplants and bulbs later. 

I love problems like that.  Really, I do.  Solving problems is fun!  So I bought a pack of 150 styrofoam plates.  Sound strange?  I'm using them as markers where transplants and Spring Bulbs will go.  So I can spread the wildflower seeds without wasting them (I'll just brush them off the styrofoam plates).

The Spring bulbs will by mostly Daffodils, but there will be Tulips and Hyacinths too.  The Tulips and Hyacinths around here get eaten right out by the voles, but I'll fool THEM!  I'm making barrier cages from 1/2" hardware cloth.  More on that in a future post...

 I can't wait for the soil to dry enough for me to get started!