HAL A LU YA! After years, my meadow garden is finally starting to grow. I didn't start it right. The idea is to cover the bed in plastic for a year to smother all the grasses and weeds. I'm too impatient for that. So I just mowed the area and planted some meadow flowers. They didn't grow. I tried the same thing the next year and they didn't grow then either.
Three years ago, I got a few sad lonely plants that grew, but they weren't much to look at. Two years ago I bought yet another tray of 48 plants (groups of 3), but delayed getting them planted (I keep having hip injuries). And they probably would have died had I planted them. It was Summer and that's a bad time to transplant flowers.
I had bought ten 10 gallon pots for tomatoes (my regular garden has gotten too shaded by neighbor's trees, so I needed to try them somewhere sunnier). So I stuck the meadow flower transplants in with the tomatoes (3 to a pot). They just sat and sulked.
But last year in Spring, they burst into growth! I transplanted them in the meadow garden. They grew some, but didn't flower. But hey, growth is good!
This year, I have many groups of 3-4' high tall meadow flowers! I'm thrilled. Some few are blooming, some are showing buds, and some are just growing tall. Well, some bloom in late Summer and Fall, so they might bloom later this year.
Here are some pictures...
I think this one is orange coneflower.
There is also a perennial I planted elsewhere that is blooming now and should do well in the meadow garden when I transplant it this Fall. It seems to grow well in difficult conditions.
It is a Maltese Cross. I suppose the name comes from the Isle of Malta, or a "maltese cross" has 5 points to it. But it a nice red color and seems dependable.
A few days ago, I took some of last year's meadow flowers that survived from last year in a tray and planted them in this year's tomato pots. I hope they thrive like last year's ones did. That would pretty much fill up the meadow garden.
Since most of them are perennials, they will last a decade. But there are also self-seeders and some spread from roots. So hopefully, in a few more years, the meadow bed will be full of flowers.
And most of them are favored by both common and struggling butterflies, native non-hiving bees, and minor insects who will be supported by the meadow flowers that are finally growing here.
My heirloom Brandywine and Cherokee Purple tomatoes are thriving. I need to get cages set up around them. I have more domestic common flowers I am planting in deck pots, but that's a future post. 😀
1 comment:
Hooray for a meadow! We don't have enough of those around, we need more such spaces.
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