Here in Highland Park, New Jersey

Call me impulsive. Or a creative gardener. A risk-taking lawn owner?

I’m sick of grass. I don’t much care for weeds, either. So I pulled up some of my grass in early spring and planted some chamomile seeds on my front lawn. The seeds took a while to germinate, and now I have these pretty, leafy green plants (pictured on right side of photo, under the rudbeckia leaves), but no chamomile flowers yet. While playing with my daughter in the front I pulled up some more weeds. After a while, I had more space to plant in front. My intention was to plant flowers, ideally perennials that would grow back each year. I put in a few, such as creeping phlox, speedwell and Mexican primrose (at left in photo). But there was still room for more. If you recall from an earlier post, I had planted a lot of basil seeds. So I had a lot of basil plants. Since the groundhog or the deer had eaten my dill and chomped at my marigolds and nasturtium in the backyard, I thought my front lawn might be a safer place for my basil. I now have little basil plants in both my backyard and the front yard. And some parsley, too. A few oregano seedlings.

What’s going on naturally where you are? Visit Michelle’s Nature Notes:

Love this new blanket flower, Gaillardia, that I planted in my garden this spring. Such brilliant red and yellow colors in one flower.

Soon I will have many, many of these black-eyed susans or rudbeckia growing all over my garden. Luckily, the animals (ground hog? deer?) don’t seem to eat them. They have already eaten my cone flowers, dill and marigolds. Discouraging.

Lambs ears produce these ultra-pink flowers; you either love ‘em or you pick them away because they are a bit too brilliant. My snapdragons are beginning to show their colors, white alyssum are happily blooming in the front, and a few petunias reseeded themselves from last summer.

For more flowers, visit:

Growing from seed can be so satisfying. My favorite part is when the little seed germinate. Germination is when they pop their little green heads out from the soil (or whatever the substance in which they are growing, some planting material is described as soiless).

Pictured are probably mostly radish seeds that have germinated in my garden, although there might be a lettuce seed that has germinated as well. I saved these seeds in my refrigerator from past years; in a few rows behind these smaller seeds I planted peas. Those I ordered new this year, along with inoculant that is supposed to help the peas germinate.

If you have never planted from seed, two seeds you might want to try are radish and marigold. Radish is quick to germinate, so you can plant it with other spring seeds, and the radishes will come up first. But radishes prefer soil that is a bit on the sandy side (our soil here in Highland Park is naturally full of clay; one needs to mix in other organic elements for better results), and it make take a while to get the actual radish. Radishes grow in the ground, but after a while you may see the bright red head of the radish popping out, requesting you pull out the radish. Marigolds are long, straw like seeds, so they don’t get lost in the soil like some tinier flower seeds. And once they germinate, they already look a bit like the fancy leaves of the marigold. And then you can watch them grow, grow, grow, and you will have fun marigolds all the way until the fall frost.

Have you planted anything from seed?

For more nature notes, visit Rambling Woods:

Michelle of Rambling Woods started a new meme called “Nature Notes.” I really like the idea. So I decided to divide “nature” into a few parts: flora, fauna, weather, and … everything else natural? water, dirt, air? I think her plan is for us to post on a Thursday. But I’m thinking about this now, so here goes:

• Few flowers, other than crocus and snowdrops, have bloomed here yet.
• But lots of green is popping its way out of the ground, such as my columbines and daffodils.
• I saw a pretty red cardinal last week! I took a photo through the window, but it didn’t come out well, and I erased it.
• I hope to visit the stream down the street from my home in the next few days to see how it looks.
• It’s been alternately cold and warmish here. Today I wore my winter coat, and the sky was cloudy.
• We often have a variety of birds visiting our backyard. A neighbor’s cat seems to like to lie in the corner near the fence.
• I planted peas and radish on Sunday. The ground was easy to dig; I am optimistic about my spring garden.

I hope you will join in the Nature Notes meme. Even if you live in the city, there are still plants, animals and air! Right?

Today I was able to turn my compost for the first time since fall. During the winter the ground is frozen (and so is my compost) even when there is no blanket of snow covering the compost.

What can you identify in my compost? Why is that item good for the soil?

Thursday Challenge is a place for photographic fun and learning. This week’s theme is BROKEN: (Smashed, Worn Out, In Need of Repair, Ripped, Torn,…)

Marigolds look pretty among the fallen leaves of autumn. These yellow and/or orange flowers grow in front and on the side of my house. I sprinkle the seeds in spots I want them to appear next spring.

         

Today’s Flowers is hosted by Luiz Santilli Jr. Thank you, Luiz, for this lovely meme.