"He hath made every thing beautiful in His time: also He hath set the world in their heart,
so that no man can find out the work that
God maketh from the beginning to the end."
Wildflower Journal - Spring 2008
June 27, 2008 - This week we got a little heat... it actually got into the mid 80s. It has been a cooler year so
far, with high temps usually in the 70s. Because of the lack of heat, things seem behind about 10 days or so.
We hand
weeded a lot of species this week like Obedient Plant (Physostegia viginiana), Alumroot (Heuchera richardsonii), and Harebell (Campanula
rotundifolia).
A few species are being harvested now, such as Jacob's Ladder (Polemomium reptans) and Prairie Smoke (Geum
trifloum). The Pasque Flower (Anemone patens wolfgangia) is now all harvested for the year.
The Spiderworts (Tradescantia
ohiensis) were really showy this week. Every morning the field is blue, and by afternoon it is green again. The blooms
last one day, and every morning new blossoms open. We also saw some Showy Beardtongue beginning to bloom a lovely pink color.
June
20, 2008 - Weeds, weeds, weeds!! The plentiful rains have really helped the weeds to flourish as well as our
wildflowers. We hoed, cultivated, sprayed, and weeded by hand this week to eliminate them.
The Wild Columbines were in
full glory this week. A few strong storms tested them, but they are still standing. Columbines have hollow stems, and
a strong wind can break them right off. If this happens, there is no seed harvest!
June 13, 2008 - We
finished transplanting this week. We planted out New England Asters (Aster novae-angliae), Large-Flowered Beardtongue (Penstemon
grandiflorus), Red Sport (Rudbeckia triloba var), Tall Sunflowers (Helianthus giganteus), Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis), and
Great Blue Lobelia (Lobelia siphilicata). We also planted out the rest of our vegetable species like melons, peppers, and eggplant.
It is always a relief to be done with the planting season!
A bear walked through one of the fields this week, leaving
a number of large tracks. The prints were about 6" across and the stride was about 6' long!
We are seeing more species
beginning to bloom like Wild Columbines (Aquilegia canadensis), and Prairie Smoke (Geum Triflorum). Both are quite the sight
in a field, as you never will see this in the wild.
June 6, 2008 - We transplanted more wildflowers out of the greenhouse
this week. We planted another species of Spiderwort (Tradescantia bracteata) that is smaller, and can be pink in color.
Another interesting species that we planted out was Widow's Cross (Sedum pulchellum). It is a dainty succulent that forms pinkish-white
Crosses!
We also have been dealing with the weeds. I got the cultivator up and running, and cultivated many of the older
fields that had weeds coming up in them. It worked really well, even on some fields that were getting pretty big, like Cream
Wild Indigo (Baptisia leucophaea).
Speaking of Cream Indigos... they are always attacked by Blister Beetles about this time
of year. Well, this year they did not show up!! We were very glad!
May 30, 2008 - This was a busy week with transplanting.
We do not have a lot to transplant this year... maybe 1 1/2 Acres.
We started with some of the cool season things like Hop Sedge (Carex lupulina) and Nodding Fescue (Festuca obtusa) and Wild Lupines
(Lupinus perennis). We have been getting a good amount of rain this spring, so we expect that the transplants should take fairly
well. It is the first year since 2004 that we have had a good amount of rain in the spring.
To our surprise, some of the
species that we divided and moved earlier this spring are blooming. We were not sure if the transplanting would set them back
too far to bloom. We saw many blooms on the Blue-Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium campestre), and on the Wild Hyacinth (Camassia scilliodes).
May
21, 2008 - Our wildflower store was down this week due to hosting problems. We lost E-mail contact as well.
So, now we went with a different hosting company that seems a lot better to work with. The old host was really poor at
customer support.
We are still getting frost at night this week. Fortunately, the field where the vegetables are remained
just above freezing. Hopefully this will be the last of the frost.
Hoeing the fields is taking center stage outside
this week. We hoed out several delicate species like Harebells and Starry Campions.
We are seeing a few more species of
wildflowers blooming now. The Jacob's Ladder is beginning to look nice, and the Prairie Violets are showing a few blooms.
The Pasque Flowers are beginning to get their wispy seed heads.
The Pearly Everlasting plants were coming up so thick under
the plastic that we have laid a few years ago, so we decided to pull up the plastic and let them go wild.
May 16,
2008 - We did lots of odds and ends this week. We are beginning to cultivate the wildflowers that are coming up in the
field, and to kill the weeds. It is a slower season this year... it seems like we are about 10 days behind schedule weather-wise.
We planted out all of the cool season vegetables this week: Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Beets, Onions, etc.
In all, I think
there were about 3,500 plants, so it only filled about 1/4 Acre.
On the mechanical side, we had our faithful tractor die this
week. The main bearings seized! We are working on getting another tractor going to take its place.
May 9, 2008 - What
a busy week! We were very busy in the cool, but pleasant weather this week. The mammoth job that we had to do was to dig
about 10,000 mature native perennial wildflowers, and move them to another field. Why?? We lost our lease on the field,
and had to move them elsewhere. Some species that we moved were: Blue-Eyed Grass, Bunch Flower, Wild Hyacinth, Royal Catchfly,
Cream Gentian, Golden Alexanders, Prairie Onions, and Reflexed Coneflowers. There were about 10 of us that dug the plants, hauled
them to another field, and then planted them again. Some rain late in the week helped to settle the plants into their new home.
We are seeing a lot of wildflowers coming out of the ground now. Almost everything is peeking out except the Wild Petunias,
Butterfly Weed, and Hibiscus.
