The Native Seeds

Several weeks ago I promised a list of the seeds that I have planted in the yard to overwinter. Here it finally is!

This is the front bed with the bags of soil. 22 species total, with a little variety in heights, blooming time, and sun requirements.

There are a few that I'm really excited about.

Poke Milkweed is a shade milkweed. It's a little bigger and less showy than the other milkweeds, but still good for nectar production and feeding caterpillars. I'm going to enjoy it because of how much shade I have in the yard. 

Doll's Eyes. They're weird. That's all the reason I need. 

Prairie Smoke, which I think is beautiful. It should add a nice splash of pink to the yard.

Similarly, Queen of the Prairie. I got these seeds from my friend Savannah, and I trust that they're locally sourced seed.

This is an unusual one - Late Figwort. It's not very showy, but apparently has an amazing nectar production late in the season to help migrating critters. It also tolerates part shade, which I'm always in need of. 

I also threw several species into pots in the backyard, since I was out of room in the "beds" we'd created. These will require some more intensive managing as I'll probably have to re-pot them early in the season.

Gray Headed Coneflower

Germander

Prairie Dock

Goldenrod (probably early)

Milkweed from neighbor’s yard (shady – poke?)

Prairie Dropseed

Lead Plant

Ironweed

River Oats

Culver’s Root

Goldenrod (probably late)

Mountain Mint

Vervain

Coneflower (probably pale purple)

I may also offer up some services creating rain gardens for folks, if there's interest. I'm guessing around $100 for planting 20 plants (4-5 species) at a site of your choosing, plus 2 rounds of weeding over the summer. There are also some things I expect to give away for free no matter what - like the Common Milkweed - and then possibly hold a mini-plant sale/garage sale in the early summer. If you want any of these, let me know! 

Nursing Native Plants

This year I dedicated myself to collecting native plant seeds wherever I could find them. By the end of the summer I had permission to gather seed on four yards in my neighborhood, not to mention my own collection at home. I carefully dried, packaged, and labeled them, giving second life to a lot of milk storage bags that no longer had a use. I had about 50 species collected or purchased from Prairie Moon Nursery, which was lovely, but I still didn't have a plan for how to actually grow all of them.

I owe a lot to this inspiring article from Houzz, about being your own wildflower nursery. The basics were that you should fill a lot of pots with soil and leave the seeds in them over the winter. Easy. Most native plants need that period of cold to germinate; some are more complicated and need a period of hot followed by a period of cold, or even need exposure to fire in order to sprout. I'm hopeful that most of what I collected is the simple "period of cold" type of plant.

I didn't want to just have a lot of pots around (though admittedly I have a lot of garden pots), and so I set about trying to transform the wasted space of the easement in front of my house. The city of Champaign had confirmed for me that I couldn't really plant a prairie there due to height limits in plantings, which led me to thinking that if I just started plants there I could put the space to use. I also invested in several shorter species (dwarf blazing star, new jersey tea) that I hope will be anchors for a real planting in the front.

Several months ago I noticed a big pile of unused wood next to my garage that was leftover from the previous owners. Wood being expensive I decided that we would use this to build the frames of our plant nursery. It didn't matter much if the wood had been treated as we weren't growing food plants, and if it fell apart in a few years I wouldn't be heartbroken because we hadn't spent any money on it. Since it was basically a series of squares it wasn't hard to put together in a few afternoons (mostly done by the husband, as I tended the baby).

The end results is an entirely passable raised bed for native plant seeds. Filling it in with enough dirt was my major concern, but as I bought more bags I realized they fit perfectly in the squares we'd established.

Each bag contains a different species and is labeled with these fantastic metal, imprintable tabs with the name of the plant engraved in it (you do this yourself with a pen or pencil). In the spring, I'll cut away the plastic and let the seeds do their thing.

This method served multiple purposes - it will kill the grass below, contain the seeds over the winter, and provides somewhere for the labels to be affixed. Theoretically perfect for now, though we'll see if there are any complications in the spring. Now I just need to cover the whole thing in straw and let it sit!

I do also have multiple pots of seeds started, as the raised bed currently only holds 22 species. Here's another 8 that I got into pots yesterday afternoon. I have probably another 25 I should do the same with. Awesome!

Species list coming this afternoon when I have time!

Fall and Winter Planning

Perrennial foods
- New apple tree - DONE
- trimming blackberries
- paw paw/persimmon trees?
- Hazelnut bushes - requested for Christmas

Annual Foods/Raised Beds
- Soil prep
- Winter greens
- Garlic planted - DONE
- Potatoes from harvest
- Strawberries

Native plants
- Gift card from Prairie Moon - DONE
- easement plans - DONE
- moooore milkweed - DONE

General Progress
- getting rid of mulberry trees in back
- Landscaping fabric for paths and patios - DONE
- BRING IN THE GOLDFISH - DONE

Seed Saving
- Veggies - DONE
- Natives - DONE

Homefront
- Painting - dining room, bathroom, kitchen DONE
- New light fixtures - bathroom and front of house
- New/updated furniture - couch, china cabinet

Making Lists

Gardening season is well under way, and I've already had an amazing year in the yard. Not being pregnant has done wonders for our ability to get things done. Surprising, I know.

The baby and St. Bernard in the yard

We've moved so fast and expanded so many things that I wanted to take a moment and catalog everything we've got in the yard right now, at the end of May 2014. I have a lot of variables to thank for this, including the Grand Prairie Friends native plant sale at the beginning of the month and multiple generous colleagues who are also passionate about native plant gardening. I only hope that in the next year or two I can repay their kindness by trading back some species they don't have yet.

Here's the list as I remember it right now:

Prairie Plants = 46

• Big Bluestem
• Little Bluestem
• Indian Grass
• (Fox?) Sedge
• Wild White Indigo
• Indigo Bush
• Black-eyed Susan
• Brown-eyed Susan
• Purple Blazing Star
• Prairie Coreopsis
• Hairy Mountain Mint
• Prairie Clover
• Cardinal Flower
• Purple Monarda
• Prairie Dock
• Compass Plant
• Cup Plant
• Four types of aster (new england, aromatic)
• Pale purple coneflower
• Rattlesnake Master
• Stiff Goldenrod
• Germander
• Golden Alexander
• Butterfly Weed
• Sullivant's Milkweed
• Partridge Pea
• Vervain
• Missouri Ironweed
• Silvermound
• Spiderwort
• Purple Joe Pye-Weed
• Whorled Milkweed
• Purple Milkweed
• Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus
• Common Milkweed
• Swamp Milkweed
• Early Goldenrod
• Prairie Blazing Star
• Nodding Wild Onion
• Purple Joe Pye-Weed
• Prairie Cinquefoil
• False Aster - boltonia asteroides
• Bellflower 
• Northern Sea Oats
• Swamp Candles
• Maximillian Sunflower

Shade Plants = 17

• Wild Strawberry
• Wild Garlic
• Jack-in-the-Pulpit
• Prairie Trillium
• False Solomon's Seal
• True Solomon's Seal
• Wild Geranium
• Columbine
• May Apples
• Black Cohosh
• Virginia Bluebells
• Wild Ginger
• Bloodroot
• Poke Milkweed
• Something purple...I can't remember the name
• Dwarf Crested Iris
• Big-leaved Aster

The front of the house, with the Winterberry and Juniper shrubs

Ferns = 2

• Maidenhair Fern
• Ostrich Fern

Shrubs/Big Plants = 7

• Winterberry
• Ninebark
• Juniper
• Illinois Prairie Rose (Rosa setigera)
• Sandbar Willow
• Bladdernut
• Shrubby St. John's Wort

Total Successful Native Plant Species = 72


In Progress (meaning I expect them next year, from having distributed seeds or am currently germinating) = 5

• Spring Beauty
• Dutchman's Breeches
• New Jersey Tea (babying one plant this season)
• Sweet Joe Pye-Weed
• Wild Golden Glow
• An additional 20 overwintering as seeds

Total Potential Native Plant Species = 97

Holy cow, you guys. At the end of last year the number of species was 28. It's still only the start of the growing season and we've already doubled the number in the yard. I would be shocked if my self-control lasted long enough for me to not invest in any additional species this year. I have some plans for paw paw and oak trees, as well as shrubby St. John's wort and spicebush. I want to work on some larger plants in the back weedy corner of the yard to help get that cleaned up. 

It's probably wise to touch on the food producing plants too, as we've been having a similarly great year there. 

Perennial Food Plants Growing = 6

• Apple trees 
• Peach tree (no fruit this year after the nasty freezes)
• Blackberry bushes
• Asparagus 
• Strawberries (in their first year, fruit next year!)
• Stanley Plums

The long bed, with at least 10 species in it

Annual Food Plants Growing = 16

• Sweet Onions
• Garlic
• Yukon Gold Potatoes
• Arugula
• Spinach
• Boston Lettuce
• Kale
• Baby carrots
• Zucchini
• Pie Pumpkins
• Butternut Squash
• Cherokee Purple Tomatoes
• Beefsteak Tomatoes
• 2 types of peppers
• Sugar Snap Peas

Herbs Growing = 8

• Peppermint
• Sage
• Thyme
• Oregano
• Basil 
• Two types of lavender
• Lemon Verbena

Total types of food being grown = 30

We've already harvested about a pound of the greens, which were delicious. I expect we'll soon have the garlic harvested. The surprising thing is that the tomatoes are failing to thrive, when they were the stars of the yard last year. We'll see if they're just starting slowly or if I need to give in and buy plants from a store instead of starting my own from seed this year. 

Hoping all of you are doing well in your gardening and growing!

Total plant species in progress = 127