Oh, Happy Day! While on a walk around an athletic field, what’s blooming mid-October? Yarrow and black-eyed Susan. There’s an abundance of common yarrow growing in a full sun, dry soil part of the field. This is one hardy plant! We’ve had a dry spell since June and this little plant is telling me it is a survivor. The black-eyed Susan’s are quite small but, they also made it through a tough summer. Since there was an abundance, I harvested a few for transplanting in my home garden. The weather is mild enough for the yarrow to allow them to take root and dig in for the winter ahead.
And, the wonder of wonders happened yesterday when I looked at the overgrown wild hillside. There were several open pods with white seed tendrils ready for the wind to catch. But, there are a few closed pods on the brink of bursting open. So, a happy hour passed with harvesting a few pods to take home and with gratitude, open the pods to release the seeds into my garden with the hopes for next year’s germination.
Given such a bounty, it may be best to consult the experts at Monarch Watch on how best to harvest, store, and plant in the spring. Pots of gold come in all different shapes and sizes.
Thank the maker!
Here’s the area to be cleared. It’s filled with sea oats, phlox, and a yucca. Every year, I knock down the tall plants and pile them on the compost heap. The sea oats are an unusual plant, but only ornamental. Insects and birds leave them alone. The phlox does get pollinators on it. But, there’s a larger patch nearby so the loss is not permanent. The yucca is a pest that only spreads itself around taking up a lot of space. It’s another ornamental that looks out of place in the landscape.
The cardboard will hopefully provide a compostable barrier between the soil as it is and how it will be. The soil layers will consist of peat moss, chopped straw, composted cow manure, and some raised bed soil mix. On top of these are a thick layer of horse manure, and leaves. The plan is to let the winter season start the decay process of building a new area for planting. No seeds will be planted at this time. The entire patch needs to blend and start to compost. The horse manure needs at least a month to decay so I’ll let old man winter do the work.
The cosmos continues on its destined pathway. Our dear Luna revolves around us, coming out of her darkness today. She is renewed. Energy waves from the new moon radiate awareness in our intuitive natures. So we renew as well. Aries always brings abruptness. The tone is sharp and short, loud and determined. Assertive is the Ram.
LuceStellare 