If you’re going to color, it might as well be the prairie!
https://www.coloringnature.org/coloring_page/prairie-wildflowers/
Prairie Coloring Sheets š
Month: April 2017
Pink Evening Primrose?
Striking this from my wish list today. Saw a flash of pink as I pulled into the driveway, went back to inspect and one of the plants that’s come I this year had bloomed š what do you think? Is my ID correct? Let me know!
Pocket Prairie Calendar
There’s always something to do. What would you add to this? Let me know if you think I left something out, it’s only my second summer. -JD
January – Mark your calendar with days to start seeds indoors. Consider adding hardscape, windmills, or other decor to your pocket prairie. Itās easier to add it now when you donāt have to worry about crushing live plants. Use sites like pinterest for ideas.
February – Start seeds indoors for plants you want to plant out after danger of frost.
March – Cut back any dead plants and grasses. Leaving the dead plantsĀ until mid-march provides food and habitat to insects and animals as well as visual interest for the humans. March begins the Monarch season, keep an eye out.
April – Plants are coming up, after danger of frost (April 15 for zone 7) start planting out your transplants. Bustani opens for spring mid month. Ok county Master Gardeners have their plant sale this month. Check Asclepius for eggs and bring them in if youāre going to raise monarchs. Any seeds that don’t need cold stratification or that weren’t started indoors can be sown this month after the 15th. Or before, if your brave.
May – WOAH! I canāt wait to see everything blooming! a lot of things should be blooming by now!
June – remember, some things you planted this year might take another year or 2 to bloom. Hold tight, theyāre getting good roots down right now. Enjoy what IS blooming!
July – enjoy the pocket prairie, take notes and pictures to document each month how everything does and if anything needs to be moved for next year, etc…
August – start your wish list for next year now. Find out the names of plants you want and what friend or retailer has them.
September – Learn about monarchs and make sure you have plenty of asclepius for next year or plan to add them.
October – Monarchs will be migrating south now. Get out those seed catalogues and order seeds for next month.
November – directĀ sow seeds that need cold stratification to germinate
December –Ā take a class, workshop or webinar about pollinators, native plants or anything else. Itās cold, you might as well be learning if you canāt do much in the prairie. Itās taking care of itās self right now. Set a budget for plants and start savingā¦ lol
Master Gardener Plant Sale
I may have a problem… LOL. Today was the Oklahoma County Extension Master Gardener’s plant sale. I picked up 5 more pots but only 1 that will go in the Pocket Prairie. Brazos Penstemon. The rest are for my backyard š Have a good weekend and look for a post soon where I’ve finally got all of these into the prairie!
Bustani is Open!
Today was opening day for Bustani’s Spring season. I went there last yearĀ and this year the same friend went with me. We were going up to close out my booth at Showplace Market finally and I was checking the hours for Bustani when I realized they opened TODAY. I was surprised but VERY excited. I also expected them to be pretty busy. They were.Ā Ā SCROLL ALL THE WAY DOWN TO FIND A LIST OF WHAT I GOT!
Look at all the pretties!
My haul:
That’s a lot of preorders! There are even more in the other direction.
Orange Mexican Bush Zinnia Zinnia angustafolia ‘Crystal Orange’
Strawberry Seduction Yarrow Achillea ‘Strawberry Seduction’
Pink Fountain Guara Guara lindhiemeri ‘Pink Fountain’
Prairie Fleabane Erigeron modestus
Maximillian Sunflower Helianthus maximilianii
Tropical Butterfly weed Asclepias curassavica x2
Arizona Butterfly Weed Asclepias angustifoliaĀ
Prairie Baby’s Breath Euphorbia Corollata
Silver Groundsel Senecio via-viraĀ – not native and going in another area of my yard
Large Coneflower Rudibeckia grandiflora x2
Veriegated Solomon’s Seal Polygonatum odoratum ‘variagatum‘ – going in another part of the yard with more shade.
Perennial Cuphea Cuphea glutinosa
Letterman’s Ironweed Vernonia lettermannii
Blue False Indigo Baptisia australis var. minor
I may be stretching the ‘native’ theme a little thin. We’ll see how these things do.
April Picture Updateš³
Plants are starting to get tall enough in the pocket prairie now so when I mow, you can tell the prairie is intentional. Some things are taking off like the giant coneflower and the Mexican hats.
I did my first edging of the year and got WAY crooked lol. Its like hair. The grass will grow back. I won’t worry about it.
I’m noticing the blanket flowers are springing up everywhere. I thought they might be thinner this year but they’re in and out of the prairie making themselves at home all over making it really hard for me to mow even though I know there will be plenty.
There’s a new grass popping up too. I don’t know if it’s something to keep or pull so you know I’m letting it go. When it’s bigger and maybe when it flowers, I’ll ID it and make a decision. Fingers crossed it’s some Indian grass or something else native. š¤
McCoy Pocket Prairie 