I have been pleasantly surprised by the wildflowers that are still surviving on the property, despite it being scrapped clean over most of it
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Have you thought of harvesting seeds from the wild plants?
Many of the plants, like milkweeds and the peas, make such a multitude of seeds that you're not likely to be damaging their ecology at all... just take a nice long walk a few times a season with some zip-lok bags and a little note pad and a pen, and Bob's your uncle. I've done this to get our local passionflower vine, and there are a lot of things that grow easily from foraged seed.
This is a great idea. I want the wildflowers to eventually be massed along the road,with something blooming in all three seasons. I have massive patches of the Maryland butterfly pea on one side of the drive, and it looks like they may be coming up on the other, but there are so many little vines that look like them that I can't tell until they flower.
Up on top of the property are masses of cinnamon fern that I need to bring down here to the front too!
Will do. I have also ordered two of my favorite ARK wildflowers seeds from an internet company. I don't really like to do that because they may not be the same plant as what is native, but I feel fairly safe with the showy evening primrose and the orange butterfly weed.
If you REALLY want to keep only truly native wildflowers then don't plant seeds that were not sourced within a mile or two from your house. Many plants have variations that are extremely local. I'm running into this when thinking of plants to put along my streamsides. I'm doing my best to only plant things that come from the Ranch already.
I can't even begin to imagine living with snakes so close. Shrieks and runs away.
THat is my thought too. My sister and I used to dig up flowers from the sides of the roads, but that is now illegal state wide. My favorite section on the sides of the road are right up 65 from me, with showing evening primrose, oxeye daisy, red clover, and TEENY little native azaleas a little farther off the road in the rocks. That section is not on the state wildflower registry, but there are the DO NOT DISTURB FLOWERS signs all over.
I have been disappointed in the Arkansas Native Plant society for not responding to my email request for a seed source. They have plant sales several times a year, but otherwise they seem to focus on collecting membership fees.
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Many of the plants, like milkweeds and the peas, make such a multitude of seeds that you're not likely to be damaging their ecology at all... just take a nice long walk a few times a season with some zip-lok bags and a little note pad and a pen, and Bob's your uncle. I've done this to get our local passionflower vine, and there are a lot of things that grow easily from foraged seed.
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Up on top of the property are masses of cinnamon fern that I need to bring down here to the front too!
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And I've never seen anything like that teeny tiny vine.
Harvest the seeds yourself!
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I can't even begin to imagine living with snakes so close. Shrieks and runs away.
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I have been disappointed in the Arkansas Native Plant society for not responding to my email request for a seed source. They have plant sales several times a year, but otherwise they seem to focus on collecting membership fees.
Any response is better than NO response.
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