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. :)
4 comments:
Congratulations, they look great! Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks, Julie.
It will be nice to see them take off next year with lichen-covered rock as a backdrop. In a way this area can be a starter bed for me, and I can transplant things from here to other areas of the property. The seeds were planted so thickly, that I'm sure I can thin separate them more come spring.
I was just going to edit my post when I saw your comment. I guess I'll just add that little tidbit here: There were a few rather small plants with whorls of leaves that I didn't quite recognize at the time of transplanting, but I realize now that they are some of the Silene stellata, starry campion. I'll be happy to see them spread around. ~smile~
I'm getting excited and looking forward to spring again.
The weather here was delightful as well and it was great to get a couple of walks in before and after dinner. I spent my two days after working in the yard too - most removing grass and some invasives. Glad you got your things planted.
Thanks, Ellen.
I'm glad you got things done too. I guess we should enjoy the weather while it lasts. I'm in no hurry for the winter weather to start.
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