Exposing my Pride and Joy

I love boulders.

We were fortunate enough to have some very large rocks (and dare I say at least two that qualify as boulders) on our property.  It was actually one of the selling points (at least for me) when Jeff and I bought this place.

One, in particular, is HUGE.  For years now, I have found myself calling it "my pride and joy".   Early on, maybe our first few years here, Jeff made the brilliant suggestion to dig out some of the soil around it, to expose more of it--since I liked it so much...and the top part was had only several inches showing above the soil line.  Excellent suggestion.

At that time, I did expose more of it along the top.  Yesterday, as so often happens as I meander around the property, I found myself digging out part of the lower portion--and, in the process leveling off the slope below it.  It is not obviously terraced, but perhaps terracing is a fair description...although the goal was to expose more of the boulder.

I cleared out the soil in one spot where I could get under the rock.  Hopefully, I created a spot for a critter to use in some fashion. 

When I was finished, apparently I only dropped the soil level about 6 inches.  Doing much more would have looked odd and messed with the path as round it.

Six inches is enough to show more rock once the wildflowers grow up. I planted:

golden ragwort (Packera aurea)
Greek valerian (Polemonium reptans L.)
wild geranium (Geranium maculatum)
white violets

....and, I replanted the asters that were already there among the weeds.

I plan to add others that are appropriate to that area.  Columbine comes to mind.  Last year, I actually sprinkled seeds in the cracks and crevices of the boulder (and maybe added a seedling).  Many years before, I added a starter of some fern kindly shared by a friend.

It is time I begin to showcase this beauty.   :)

Fitting Right In

I planted all of the new additions except the queen of the prairie which I think needs more moisture than the site I'd picked for it will provide.  Once established, I will try to grow some in, perhaps, less than the ideal site, but I'd rather wait until I have more, and plant them in the spring or fall not the heat of summer.

The pollinators already attracted to the other native flowers I have took no time at all to explore the new arrivals.  I've never seen this one before:

It's No Joke

From today:

Before...

...and After:

I realize they look virtually the same...but at the time I wanted an after photo--I had just planted some wild geranium that I divided to spread into the woodland section I'm working on.  However, they have yet to sprout and are covered with soil.  Don't ask me why I felt the need to take an after shot! 

Maybe in a few weeks, after it has leafed out, I'll have a more dramatic after photo.

Here is what is (honestly) in the ground scattered among the rocks:  

Second Batch are in Now Too

Look how root-bound they are.

I did get the second batch of first-year seedlings planted on Friday, but I didn't get a chance to post about it until today. Mostly I planted the wildflowers near the boulder again, but I did add a few near the sun porch and some near the front landscaping.

I decided to sprinkle a lot of the seeds from the daisy fleabane (Erigeron sp.) throughout the bare soil between the new plants. Hopefully they will help out compete any weed seeds and bring some additional beauty (and nectar) to the area. I also raked a light layer of mower-mulched leaves and grass clippings on top of them.

One Down, One to Go

I guess I only needed the right combination of time off, a sunny day, and some motivation to finally get the wildflowers I grew from seed into the ground. Who would've ever guessed it would be on Thanksgiving Day. :)

I found it easier to plant most of them near my pride and joy, the huge boulder. I'd been removing soil on the one side to expose more of the rock face, so digging down a bit more gave me a fairly blank canvas...except for some roots I didn't take the time to remove...and who knows how many weed seeds I probably exposed. At least the wildflowers have a head start and I'll have something to weed around if things do compete with them. Mostly, I planted the Penstemon digitalis near the rock; I tried to pull out the *tiny* meadow rue and planted them in a couple more appropriate places, but some of them were entangled with the Penstemon, so I let them go...along with the New England aster which, I'll try to transplant to a more appropriate spot next spring. Maybe this will teach me to plant each species of seed together instead of throwing them all in together--guess I'll have to wait until *next* year when I collect, as I've already mixed them all again this year.

Luckily it is in the high 50s today and it is supposed to be 60 tomorrow. I'm also lucky we are in the area this year and didn't have to cook either. I only wish I had thought to put on a pair of old jeans before I found myself kneeling in the dirt. I never know when the mood will hit and don't always think about what I'm wearing.

I'm not a good example, and I don't recommend to anyone to put off planting their seedlings like I did this year, but I do think as long as the ground is not frozen, the plants do continue to make roots, so hopefully they'll set even a little bit of roots into their new location. If not, they should still be fine. :)

Oh well, I'm thrilled to have half of them planted with plans to do the other half tomorrow. Dinner is at 3:00 today, so I'm going to have to stop now. We have another dinner with friends tomorrow at 3:00, so I'd better get up early and do some more--gotta remember to put on some work clothes next time.

Happy Thanksgiving. :)

tall meadow rue, Thalictrum dioicum, (I think)

One Year Ago Today

Having a three day weekend helps me be more productive. I got a few things done, but by the end of the day yesterday, I decided to put off planting the wildflower seeds I collected last fall. Yesterday, I was looking through past posts here, when I came across the first batch of seeds I planted--it was exactly one year ago today. So, last night, I was determined to get them planted. I was not expecting to have to shovel 10 inches of snow this morning and search through the snow for the pots I'd planned to use.

Luckily I found them, filled them with top soil and potting mix, planted the seeds, and took several pictures of the process. My only regret was that I should've used at least one more pot...I think I collected a lot more seeds this year, and the pots were pretty crowded last year!

I piled snow over top of them again same as last year. Here's hoping I have a lot of successful germination.


Stored seeds.


Lucky to find the pots buried under all that snow.


Fill with top soil.


Seeds added, then covered in potting mix.


As I did last year, I covered them all with snow.

Meadow Wildflowers

The woodland wildflowers are mostly done blooming now. During summer, I tend to turn my focus to meadow and wetland wildflowers. Here are some that are just starting to bloom.

The butterfly weed was actually the one I purchased two weekends ago. It is still in its pot and is a bit ahead of those I planted last year. Those are now up and forming flower buds.

The Penstemon digitalis is just starting to open up. The sundrops are from the flowerbed created by the previous owner(s).

I took these pictures before mowing the lawn, and before my encounter with the doe.

Seeds Germinated, Growing, and Identified

It has been a while since I've posted about the wildflower seeds I planted late winter. I've not done much with them except water them on occasion. Today I weeded out a couple weeds. I realized that I recognized a lot of the young plants, so I decided to take some pictures, label them, and post them here.

May Flowers

...Okay, I know, I threw in some leaves and ferns with the flowers.