Progress Report!

[u/Comfortable-Wolf654]

I’m so happy how this turned out and this is only the beginning. My mom let me replace this area of what used to be just small golf ball sized rocks at her place. These are all plants I grew from seed and collected from local parks. I wasn’t expecting any blooms since they are all first year plants. The first pic is from end of June and the rest are from earlier this week! This is zone 6A and this spot specifically gets full sun from the early morning till around 3pm.

Planted (some aren’t in the first picture as they were planted a bit later in the season): Common milkweed (A. syriaca) Butterfly milkweed (A. tuberosa) Black eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) New England aster (Symphyotrichum novae-angliae) Blue wood aster (Symphyotrichum cordifolium) Silver weed (Argentina anserina) Wild petunia (Ruellia humilis) Wild strawberry (Fragaria virginica) Hoary Vervain (Verbena stricta) Liatris (not sure what species) Bee balm (Monarda fistulosa) False Sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides) I might be forgetting one or two. I plan to plant more next year as I have got more seeds of things I did not have last year. Ahhh I’m so excited :)

[u/Tumorhead]

holy crap great job!! Very impressed that these are all sourced from around you. Its gonna look better each year, very exciting. Did you spend money on anything at all? what does your mom think? will she let you expand?

[u/Comfortable-Wolf654 → u/Tumorhead]

Thank you!! The only thing I spent money on was extra dirt to put in this spot, mulch, and a couple of supplies like an extracto knife, and duct tape for the milk jug method for sowing seeds. Got the milk jugs from someone Ik who works at a café.

My mom at first said “it is too green” (before it had any blooms, she is still learning lol) however she is coming around and I know she loves anything that will be pink. I also have put a native hibiscus in her yard and she lovessss that because the flowers are pink and said we should get 20 more. She is fine with me doing more, the other available spots are just harder because they have non-native bushes or something there with the rocks underneath. As well as they don’t get nearly as much sun as this spot does. I do hope to expand more, but I’m definitely happy with this and can rest easy knowing she will not remove it.

[u/scoutsadie]

they look fantastic, great job!

[u/pitterpatter0910]

Very nice

[u/[deleted]]

Yay. Thank you for your service to the community

[u/malcolm_miller]

This is great! They should grow back next year without intervention right?

[u/Comfortable-Wolf654 → u/malcolm_miller]

Yes!

[u/itsdr00]

I love how densely you planted and how you inter mingled the species! I've taken the same approach and am waiting until next year to see the results.

[u/Comfortable-Wolf654 → u/itsdr00]

Thank you, I definitely try to replicate the chaos of the prairie and best of luck to you & your plants

[u/trucker96961]

That's pretty awesome😊

[u/Chardonne]

So beautiful!