Prairie
03-11-2008, 01:07 PM
Hello Gardeners!
I can't find the mechanism for starting a new thread on this forum. I still need to get up to speed on the mechanics a bit. Another trick i would like to start using is uploading photos of gardens for basking in the successes and pointing out the challenges. I also thought it would be neat to post photos of weeds that are currently plaguing us. People might feel a lot more confident going in and working on the gardens if they were certain what was not wanted and what was maybe a juvenile, but potentially good plant. Two weeks ago, Vicki Thomas spent most of Saturday with me in the southeast quadrant of Flora's. We planted a couple hundred Iris corms. They passed the winter in feed bags and stayed cool and humid in this winter's conditions. They have nice fans starting. Barring a late spring blast like the one last year, we might get bloom on these this year! The Iris surround the altar area for Eros. I thought that was kinda neat "Iris/Eros". Of course the Iris is the source of "Orris Root" called for in many ancient herbal and magical formulations.
Another species to look for this spring is the white clover planted in the gravel paths last fall. As temperatures rise, these should be germinating. The idea is to have a lawn in the "flower bower" tradition of medieval gardens. The white clover will not exceed 6 inches height. So, mowing should not be a concern. We may want to control this species from taking over the beds. But if they do spread, they will certainly do very little harm. Morris joined us for a while in the afternoon. He asked about the winter dormant Miscanthus (Maiden Grass) near the gates. We all had fun as he took his lighter to the dry grass. We had a demonstration of spring cleanup the easy way. This mini spring prairie burn no doubt cleared the immediate area of some annual weed seed. It was a tiny preview of the spring prairie burns to come. The monarda and some areas of Fauna's could also use this treatment. Chuck (Lorian) also toured Fauna's with the intention of taking it under his wing.
Another area getting attention is Memorial Grove. The dirt work for the new storage sheds is complete. Gravel for the roads should arrive this spring. The areas made bare by this work are now home to the Gaea Oaks we planted two years ago from acorns collected around the cabins. The tiny trees wintered beautifully. These areas also got a dormant seeding of native grass seed last winter. The seed is over a year old. So it will be interesting to see how it does. A lot of native Senna seed i had has been scattered around the new pond there. Keep an eye out for the fernlike sprouts of this species.
I hope you all have also wintered well. I look forward to seeing the Gaea Gardeners on the land again.
Blessings,
Prairie
I can't find the mechanism for starting a new thread on this forum. I still need to get up to speed on the mechanics a bit. Another trick i would like to start using is uploading photos of gardens for basking in the successes and pointing out the challenges. I also thought it would be neat to post photos of weeds that are currently plaguing us. People might feel a lot more confident going in and working on the gardens if they were certain what was not wanted and what was maybe a juvenile, but potentially good plant. Two weeks ago, Vicki Thomas spent most of Saturday with me in the southeast quadrant of Flora's. We planted a couple hundred Iris corms. They passed the winter in feed bags and stayed cool and humid in this winter's conditions. They have nice fans starting. Barring a late spring blast like the one last year, we might get bloom on these this year! The Iris surround the altar area for Eros. I thought that was kinda neat "Iris/Eros". Of course the Iris is the source of "Orris Root" called for in many ancient herbal and magical formulations.
Another species to look for this spring is the white clover planted in the gravel paths last fall. As temperatures rise, these should be germinating. The idea is to have a lawn in the "flower bower" tradition of medieval gardens. The white clover will not exceed 6 inches height. So, mowing should not be a concern. We may want to control this species from taking over the beds. But if they do spread, they will certainly do very little harm. Morris joined us for a while in the afternoon. He asked about the winter dormant Miscanthus (Maiden Grass) near the gates. We all had fun as he took his lighter to the dry grass. We had a demonstration of spring cleanup the easy way. This mini spring prairie burn no doubt cleared the immediate area of some annual weed seed. It was a tiny preview of the spring prairie burns to come. The monarda and some areas of Fauna's could also use this treatment. Chuck (Lorian) also toured Fauna's with the intention of taking it under his wing.
Another area getting attention is Memorial Grove. The dirt work for the new storage sheds is complete. Gravel for the roads should arrive this spring. The areas made bare by this work are now home to the Gaea Oaks we planted two years ago from acorns collected around the cabins. The tiny trees wintered beautifully. These areas also got a dormant seeding of native grass seed last winter. The seed is over a year old. So it will be interesting to see how it does. A lot of native Senna seed i had has been scattered around the new pond there. Keep an eye out for the fernlike sprouts of this species.
I hope you all have also wintered well. I look forward to seeing the Gaea Gardeners on the land again.
Blessings,
Prairie