Embracing the beauty and utility of wildflowers and grasses, we discover that they are not mere weeds, but valuable resources. They serve as medicines, contribute to food cultivation, aid in land preservation, and adorn our gardens with their natural charm, requiring no excessive maintenance.
What are the birds, bees, and butterflies to eat if we keep hacking down their food trails? Is it more beautiful to have everything so tightly controlled by mankind?
Are we excessively mowing and planting fussy plants that we have to struggle to keep growing? Are we using up our water tables for an unsustainable vision of green lawns, mono-crops, and water-needy plants?
I am learning to waltz with the weeds!
My field of wildflowers and grasses is a living canvas, offering seasonal displays of vibrant colors and varied textures. It not only pleases the eye but also sustains a diverse food chain, attracting birds, small animals, and insects. The joy of watching my dogs frolic in the tall grasses is a testament to the beauty and vitality of this wild landscape.
 |
Front deck facing Gaetz Lake & the Atlantic Ocean. |
Last year, I transplanted a couple of ferns in early spring, and one of them into a pot with two others, with moss stuffed into the clay dirt along our lower ditch.
Surprisingly, all the ferns I transplanted last year have come back this year, a testament to the success of my gardening experiment. The sight of these ferns, with their fashionable waving branches and vibrant red plumes, is a source of great satisfaction and joy.
Last year, I discovered yellow coreopsis on our septic lawn. I got Jim to stop mowing that area last year and was thrilled to see other wildflowers, such as the brown-eyed Susans, Queen of the Meadow, and various grass varieties with their own colors and seed styles emerging from the sandy ground.
 |
A variety of wild grasses & ox-eyed daisies. |
Online, I found an inspiring landscape designer, Piet Oudolf, who came to peace with the wild side of his original style of plant growing, selling, and landscaping. He is a well-known landscape designer implementing wild plants mixed in with perennials. He has taken on the challenges of urban landscapes to create plots of landscaping that bring together Mother Nature and sustainable plants.
I love to stroll through Mother Nature's wildness to discover what is blooming, a scheme of perfection that no human could ever master. The complexities are beyond our grasp, but we humans enjoy the challenge of manipulating our own vision.
The entire front area of our home is a wave of ox-eyed daisies that have been cultivated with me rescuing a few from the mower and putting them into a bottomless planter made from a repurposed barrel.
 |
Ox-eye daisies (2014) were transplanted into a planter. Mother Nature did the rest! |
Each year, the daisies spread throughout the front lawn, so this year they managed to cover the entire landscape. I went with Mother Nature's suggestion and stopped using the mower permanently to let the ox-eye daisies become the sole plants in our front landscaping.
 |
Oxeye Daisy Barrel in a strawbale rock garden. Read more about gardening experiments. |
The straw bale and rock garden were built up over a few years, and last year, I planted Egyptian Walking onions, mustard lettuce, brown-eyed Susans rescued from a parking lot, and the herb oregano has taken over the straw bale garden, shooting up tall with its beautiful purple flowers. Under the strawbale is my first attempt to grow daffodils & tulips, to which I found tulips to be delicious to the deer but not the daffodils!
 |
Celebrating Canada's 150th Birthday, I planted the dedicated tulip cultivated by the Dutch to honor Canada. |
 |
Mustard lettuce sprouted easily in the pebble rock that surrounds the garden plots. |
Last year, I planted some mustard leaf seeds in the garden plots, from which we ate them, and let a few plants go to seed. This year, I had mustard lettuce all over the pebble walkway, but they were easily pulled out and eaten daily. I loved the abundance and shared it with visiting friends to take home. I do not mind them spreading out and love their gorgeous red leaves and tiny yellow flowers that tower over all the other plants.
 |
Towering over all the plants is the rogue mustard lettuce, now transformed into yellow flowers. |
Next spring, 2018, I will have LOTS of mustard lettuce to eat, and suspect some of it will be a part of our front landscape coming up before the ox-eye daisies that will be blooming a little later, so they will get a chance to grow their red leaves and then come to flower along the side of ox-eyed daisies. I will never have to plant another pack of mustard lettuce seeds! This might be a normal gardener's nightmare, but to me, it is self-sustaining, and I can eat it, so I like that!
I received my first couple of Walking Egyptian onion bulbs from a neighbor moving away. I enjoyed watching them grow and found that they were decorative too, adding character to my garden landscapes and mixed flowering pots.
More about this amazing plant called the Walking Egyptian Onions...
Over the years, I have given away many bulbs of the hardy onion to share with others in their gardens. They seem to grow even under the snow, so they will be among the first green plants to emerge in a new season.
I like to pick the toppers which have little onion bulbs that, by design, will topple over and replant themselves, hence the Walking part of the onions' nature.
My sister has pickled the topper bulbs just like pickling any vegetable, they add variety to our daily food. My favorite way to eat them is to pull the whole onion out of the dirt, slice it longways, keeping the tall green part attached to the bulb, rub it in olive oil, and add a sprinkling of sea salt. I roast them draped long on a cookie sheet till the green stems crisp and the onion bulb caramelizes. Fabulous sweet onion flavors, and can use the green stems like a store-bought green onion for salads.
The Egyptian walking onion does exactly that action. As they grow tall, the bulbs will sprout from the top, making the plant top-heavy and eventually causing them to drop back to the earth, where they will start a new batch of onions. I eat the whole plant, from the roots to the bulbs, which are similar to shallots. Mainly, I grow them for their looks and like to share them with others who also get visually captured by their whimsical style.
There is a trend spreading around the globe to rethink how we are tending to Mother Nature's natural landscaping. Several landscape designers specialize in rethinking how we can make parks, cities, and homes more sustainable and teaching all of us to really LOOK at the beauty and not judge Mother Nature's style as bad weeds.
Dan Pearson is another landscape designer I have enjoyed watching, as he gives his video talks. All the landscape designers inspire me to continue learning about the various plants that grow in our landscape. A goal is not only to understand the plants' attributes but also to inspire a series of paintings.
I received my first couple of Walking Egyptian onion bulbs from a neighbor moving away. I enjoyed watching them grow and found that they were decorative too, adding character to my garden landscapes and mixed flowering pots.
More about this amazing plant called the Walking Egyptian Onions...
Over the years, I have given away many bulbs of the hardy onion to share with others in their gardens. They seem to grow even under the snow, so they will be among the first green plants to emerge in a new season.
I like to pick the toppers which have little onion bulbs that, by design, will topple over and replant themselves, hence the Walking part of the onions' nature.
My sister has pickled the topper bulbs just like pickling any vegetable, they add variety to our daily food. My favorite way to eat them is to pull the whole onion out of the dirt, slice it longways, keeping the tall green part attached to the bulb, rub it in olive oil, and add a sprinkling of sea salt. I roast them draped long on a cookie sheet till the green stems crisp and the onion bulb caramelizes. Fabulous sweet onion flavors, and can use the green stems like a store-bought green onion for salads.
 |
To read more about the Walking Egyptian Onion |
The Egyptian walking onion does exactly that action. As they grow tall, the bulbs will sprout from the top, making the plant top-heavy and eventually causing them to drop back to the earth, where they will start a new batch of onions. I eat the whole plant, from the roots to the bulbs, which are similar to shallots. Mainly, I grow them for their looks and like to share them with others who also get visually captured by their whimsical style.
There is a trend spreading around the globe to rethink how we are tending to Mother Nature's natural landscaping. Several landscape designers specialize in rethinking how we can make parks, cities, and homes more sustainable and teaching all of us to really LOOK at the beauty and not judge Mother Nature's style as bad weeds.
Dan Pearson is another landscape designer I have enjoyed watching, as he gives his video talks. All the landscape designers inspire me to continue learning about the various plants that grow in our landscape. A goal is not only to understand the plants' attributes but also to inspire a series of paintings.
When we first built our house, the landscape was dug up, and nothing but clay dirt was left behind. The way we build homes, it seems necessary to dig up the landscape and to dig deep for water drainage around our house.
Jim did toss some wildflower seeds & grasses when we first built out the back area, and saw a few come up over the years, but mostly the lupins flourished, and now see the Shasta daisies spreading.
Anything that loves gnarly clay dirt, smashing rains, salty air, and wicked winds will find this spot on the hillside very challenging!
The list of wild plants growing below is only the tip of the wildlife story. I am waiting for my library book to help me identify the wild plants growing, and will update my findings.
The list of wild plants growing below is only the tip of the wildlife story. I am waiting for my library book to help me identify the wild plants growing, and will update my findings.
 |
Queen of the Meadow |
 |
Fleabane Daisies |
White Flowers:
Queen of the meadow
Queen Ann's Lace
Yarrow (white)
Brisbane Daisy
Strawberry
Bedstraw
Aster white flat top
***************************************************
 |
Yellow Wood Sorrel A cute plant with clover-like leaves & 5 yellow petal flowers. |
 |
Elecampane is a healing plant & a remarkable discovery. Find out more here |
 |
Elecampane is a fantastic healing plant. Find out more here |
Yellow Flowers:
Buttercup
Cats-ear
Yellow Clover
Goats Beard Yellow
Golden Rod Seaside
Golden Rod
King Devil
Water Lilies
Butter-n-Eggs snapdragons
Elecampane
Elecampane
****************************
 |
Pink roses line our property and grow abundantly. |
Pink Flowers:
Lady's Thumb
Rose Pasture
Rose Rugosa
****************************
 |
Wild Pea Plant |
Purple Flowers:
Knap Weed
Lupin
Thistle Bull
Asters
Blue-Eyed Grass
**************************
 |
Black-Eyed Susan |
Orange Flowers:
Black-Eyed Susans
Clovers:
Rabbitfoot clover (T. arvense)
Hop Clover (T. campestre)
Chamomile:
I look forward to more discoveries in wild landscaping, with transplanting and seed spreading, as I work towards that dream of wild fields filled with flowers and grasses, encouraging all the critters to stop by and eat... naturally.
No comments :
Post a Comment