I wiped away the weeds & foam. / I fetched my sea-born treasures home... Ralph Waldo Emerson







Monday, August 14, 2017

Wildflower Meadow on My Deck



Hi! Mid-August! By now I think my deck planters garden is as good as it's going to get.


This year I made my garden from either seeds or summer bulbs, no pre-grown nursery plants [except one Spanish lavender], for two reasons: ease of carrying up to the deck/ ease of planting and mostly for budgetary considerations. You get a lot of zinnias out of a freebie seed pack from Country Living. 




I was also inspired by posts on my friend Tammy's blog, T's Daily Treasures. Tammy is an American living in Kuwait and she is often involved in community gardens in her city. She talked about growing a tiny wildflower meadow in a pot, from a packet of seeds, and how fun it was for the mystery flowers to evolve. I've always wanted to do that! Anyone remember Meadow in a Can? My dad pooh-poohed the idea: Weeds! he'd scoff.


But Tammy's version in a small planter sounded fun and doable. I planted most things mid-May.


Here are the seed packs, including Save the Bees. I added another pack called...???Butterfly Flowers too.

If we look closely, the drawing on the seed envelope closely resembles what has grown. How cool is that! Save the Bees





from web page, link above:
SOWN AT THE RATE OF 25 SEEDS PER SQ. FT., THIS MIX COVERS APPROXIMATELY 225 SQ. FT.
Mix contains by weight:
1. Basil, Sweet (A) 5%
2. Bergamot (P) 0.5%
3. Black-Eyed Susan (A/P) 1%
4. Borage (A) 16%
5. California Poppy (A/P) 6%
6. Catnip (P) 1%
7. Coriander/Cilantro (A) 13%
8. Coreopsis, Lance Leaf (P) 6%
9. Cosmos (A) 3%
10. Dill (A) 6%
11. Gaillardia, Annual (A) 6%
12. Globe Gilia (A) 2%
13. Goldenrod (P) 1%
14. Lavender Hyssop (P) 0.5%
15. Lemon Mint (A) 1%
16. Purple Prairie Clover (P) 3%
17. Siberian Wallflower (B/P) 10%
18. Sunflower, Lemon Queen (A) 13%
19. Zinnia, Cut and Come Again (A) 6% 

I have ~
Zinnias,







Cosmos.




Mexican or field marigolds.





Coreopsis.



Something tiny and adorably gorgeously sky blue. I have no idea what this is, and it was hard to get its picture. {Oh I now see this is borage, an herb. I was worried it was nightshade! Have see what borage is used for!]






Large grasses or weeds? No, fancy red corn, another heirloom from Botanical Interests. If it's successful, it will have red ''corn'' plumes in October.


Many sizes of sunflowers, just beginning to bloom. These are the Lemon Queens.


The meadow flowers are nor full or dense like a nursery planting would be but each bloom is treasured.


I also had lovely basil starting, you can see it on the list, but it was mixed with poison ivy, growing together, so I pulled it out. I guess daddy was sort of right about weeds?

This meadow was supposed to draw bees and butterflies. And indeed it has. I do not see any honey bees but many chubby busy bumblebees which are much more common here. And orange and brown unknown butterflies [not Monarchs] and white cabbage and yellow sulfur butter butterflies too. The pots of flowers are always busy with tiny visitors.
The bees like the sunflowers okay but all the good bugs especially like the very prolific lime tree that my friend brought in December and it never went home.




It loves my deck and the pollinators do a great job. Lots of little limes to harvest.[The pink pompoms are volunteers of unknown origin, in the lime tree pot,maybe from the wilflower pack?]


Then I did some summer bulbs.
Cannas---big flop, not a one. Very expensive bulbs, too. Note "easy to grow". I said we should go back and complain. My friends' cannas did not grow either. So disappointed. No blue pom poms either.




Elephant ears, also from the April Flower Show.


And dahlias from the supermarket, 4.99 per box, each with one tuber.


They are doing well, though they amuse me as both the ''blue'' and the ''red and white striped'' plants are producing basic burgundy.  And ''dinner plate'' = 4"?


And golden yellow with white tips is just...yellow. But that's okay! I like them all.


Tarragon grown from heirloom seed, for an infused vinegar.


And my lavender garden.


I'm enjoying this experiment. Ya never know!





love

lizzy

gone to the beach...

...yesterday: a perfect August Sunday.















PS I water my deck garden twice a day, two big watering cans full each time. Really soaking the pots. Otherwise the sun and heat and wind destroy the flowers in half  a day. I even water on rainy days, which are few anyway.

7 comments:

  1. I'm not consistent enough to keep my pots watered, so usually by the hot days of August (here) they're either dead or completely fried. I need an automatic timer, lol. I start out doing good but then something will happen - I'll have to be gone for a day or something - and they'll wilt, and they never really recover from that. I keep saying I'm going to give up and put silk flowers out, lol.

    Borage is supposed to taste a bit like celery, but the leaves are hairy and unpleasant. The flowers are slightly spicy and can be used in salads and soups. For the most part it's not used much as a food because some of it's 'chemicals' can be bad for you. It is a good companion plant, though, and also attracts beneficial insects.

    Next year pick up a package of nasturtium seeds! They're edible and taste like black pepper, and are tasty to toss into salads. The flowers are also edible but don't have much taste - they're pretty as a garnish, tho.

    I like your garden experiment! I love zinnas and marigolds and cosmos - also spider-flowers (cleome) but they get awfully tall.

    I'd love to have a little lime tree!! I was in a greenhouse once that smelled divine and after spending 30 minutes trying to find what I could smell someone finally pointed me to the trees. Heavenly! Do you use the limes? What have you used them for?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You have to be dedicated about watering, a garden is a living thing that requires care just like a pet would.
      Knowing you , you could find a timed system on Amazon. Inverted liter plastic bottles work well too. Also the special water retaining soil.
      Usually I grow nasturtiums, just didn t see a package this year.

      I think I ll leave the borage in the pot, no eating!

      I give the limes to the guy whose tree it is, he puts them in his drinks! They re smallish tho. The flowers make real mess inside, blooms profusely, hundreds of blooms. Smell like a migraine to me, but maybe not really. lol.

      I used to grow cleome from my dad's heirloom seeds, but finally mine died out. I like how tall and spiky they are.

      Delete
  2. I love seeing what you've grown! Your experiment was a great success, I'd say!!

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  3. Everything is so colorful! Mine have stalled? I'm thinking the heat wave we had a few weeks ago might have taken a toll. I am planning a second wave :)

    The elephant ears look good, and never get tired of seeing dahlias. Limes even! So exciting. Too bad about the cannas.

    The beach looks very inviting.

    Kel

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  4. Oooo, I love your pots! I may have to do that next year. I miss not having Cosmos and Zinnias this year. So I think I will sprinkle seeds in two of my large pots. :) Kit

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  5. The garden is great! That you have a green thumb is even better!!

    Planting season here will be in mid October!

    ~Lisa

    ReplyDelete

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