Garden Wisdom Blog — category: Flower Talk
Gardening for Birds
birds category: Flower Talk conservation seeds
Gardening for birds is another way to build biodiversity in garden spaces. Like pollinators and other insects, wild birds are under pressure due to habitat loss, pollution, and ever expanding human settlement. By including certain plants and building certain habitats, gardeners can ease this pressure, and even benefit from the presence of some bird species.
Plant Flower Seeds for Bees
bees category: Articles and Instructions category: Flower Talk category: Garden Resources flowers how-to pollinators
With pollinator conservation in mind it’s a good idea to plant flower seeds for bees. But which are the best pollinator plants? Which bee flowers are the easiest to sow and grow? What flowers can be grown in containers or schoolyards to attract pollinators? Certain plants produce flowers that are really generous with nectar and pollen in order to ensure good pollination. The plants and the bees (and other insects) that pollinate them have evolved in harmony to form important relationships — one can’t survive without the other, but together they will thrive! So the first consideration is to think...
About Milkweed
category: Flower Talk category: Insects Pests and Diseases monarch-butterflies
All butterflies (including moths), as well as a wide range of bees, flies, beetles, and even hummingbirds, will feed on the nectar-heavy flowers of all milkweed varieties. The Monarch, however, seeks milkweed out on which to lay her eggs. Monarch caterpillars require milkweed to feed on prior to pupating, and they tend not to thrive when presented with alternative food sources. Planting milkweed is thought to be the number one step North American gardeners can do to help the endangered Monarch.
Knee High Meadow Blend Wildflower Ingredients
category: Articles and Instructions category: Flower Talk category: Garden Resources flowers pollinators wildflowers
The wildflower seeds in our Knee High Meadow Blend produce a waist-high field of brilliantly coloured flowers that bloom over a very long period from spring to fall. This blend is best for areas that will be protected from foot traffic, and it will lure hummingbirds, butterflies, bees, and other pollinators to the area. Planted less densely, this blend works just as well in containers and raised beds. African Daisy (Dimorphoteca sinuata) Baby’s Breath (Gypsophila elegans) Black-Eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta) Blanketflower (Gaillardia aristata) Blue Flax (Linum perenne) California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica) Candytuft (Iberis umbellata) Catchfly (Silene armeria) Chinese Forget-Me-Not (Cynoglossum...
Flower Arrangement Inspiration
category: Articles and Instructions category: Flower Talk category: Garden Resources flowers garden-wisdom seeds
One day this past summer several of us got together to photograph some of the flowers and produce from the trial fields in a more studio setting. Jill, who normally works in customer service, has some professional experience as a florist, and her arrangements were amazing. Several of our team would cut the flowers and herbs (and vegetables!) and bring them into the farm house where Jill would set them up, and I would light and photograph them. We have tagged the most traditional of our cut flowers on this website so they can be filtered as a group. These...
