A Blooming Meadow

The meadow garden is the newest planting area here at the Asylum, and I confess it all started with an attack of laziness one spring mowing day.

I thought, doesn’t all that fresh tall grass look lovely? Why not just cut a path as I mow from the front yard to the back?

Adding a bench and some sheet metal sheep was enough to keep me happy while sorting out the other spaces in my garden. Soon enough though, it seemed like a good idea to add some rodent-proof bulbs for the spring, like daffodils and camassias. Vetch and other nasties had to be weeded out, and rudbeckia and milkweeds were added to fill the holes. Well, you know the end of the story – it’s a full blown gardening space now, and if it’s a bit boring at the beginning of summer,

it’s a fun place for birds, bees and people from midsummer on.

The black eyed susans dominate, but walking through, there are other interesting things to notice like the solidago, a near perfect color echo for the susans’ sunshine yellow.

Because it’s damp here, the agastache and coneflowers stay in bloom for a long long time, and as with rudbeckia, I’ll leave the seedheads for the birds.

The asclepias tuberosa or butterfly weed is gone by, but its magical seed pods host some boogieing beetles.

I just don’t love red, but here and by the pond lobelia cardinalis is given space as a treat for the hummingbirds.

The straight species is just finishing up here, but a darker leaved hybrid, ‘Queen Victoria’  will begin later to please birds that stay a bit longer into the fall.

Some flowers planted themselves here in the meadow, like this sweet little malva rosea, musk mallow.

Another little wild thing has the name prunella vulgaris or heal-all, brought over by European settlers for use by medical herbalists.

There is an old French saying that if one has heal-all there is no need for a surgeon. But then, the French are always saying things. Anyway it’s cute, it’s blue and it doesn’t take over, so Prunella stays.

In addition to boisterous beetles, right now we often see sweet little ladybugs eating up the aphids, spotted here on a milkweed plant.

Here the long coveted ironweed vernonia begins its purple blooming.

We tolerate this aggressive bull thistle, partly for the birds, partly for its lovely purple color.

Joe-Pye weed frames a sheep speckled with evidence that birds like it here.

The bees like it here too.

May Dreams Gardens hosts bloom day each month – check it out!