A close-up of a very tiny, bright green wild violet sprout that took weeks to finally appear (the only one so far out of two dozen planted). The bitty cotyledons are surrounded by potting soil and stained chunks of perlite

A very short list of small changes that have big, positive impacts on our environment:

Switching to low/no-mow lawns
Planting native species/choosing non-natives wisely
No pesticides
Conserve water
Share with wildlife

We can't do everything but we can all do something

#earthday
#gardensky

Several mounds of jagged green leaves grow against a reddish brick wall, illuminated by the sun. Several dandelion heads, completely opened and fluffy looking, peek out from the centers of the plants

I took my 2yo for a walk today

He said he wanted to pick a daisy

I was confused until I saw all the yellow in the grass, so I told him they were called dandelions

After several minutes of going back and forth, he settled on daisy-lions

That's cool with me, kid

#flowers
#feedthebees

A close-up of a cluster of white buds, which appear green at the tips, grow from the end of a branch, surrounded by several small green leaves. The green at the base of the buds looks almost bluish, though it's hard to see that in the picture. This particular shrub is a compact blueberry variety called Top Hat

Fancy little flower buds on a fancy little blueberry shrub

#bluetue
#tinyflowertuesday

Several 3 inch nursery pots are filled with various young plants that have several sets of true leaves, including dark green Italian parsley, sage, calendula, and heirloom pineapple alpine strawberry

Another countdown begins:

4 weeks until the forecasted last frost date in my area

Thank goodness because, despite planting very few things too early, my downstairs grow shelves are starting to look jungle-like

#herbgardening
#canadiangardening

A Johnny jump-up, a volunteer in one of my garden beds, is the only flower among weeds and still-growing perennials. The petals are a mix of deep purple and two shades of yellow, which have lines of dark purple Between the colours and markings, there is a lot going on, on a flower so small (around an inch)

Dramadramadrama

#flowers
#bloomscrolling

That's what I was thinking, thanks. I was going to pot up the oldest grasses Wednesday but I think I'll do it all tomorrow instead, before this one gets much longer

I think that will be easier said than done but I appreciate the reminder of Dr Malcolm's sage advice 😅

A long blade of dark green bottlebrush grass grows out from a slit in a black tray insert, which starts about half down from the top of the cell (Note: the slit isn't an accidental crack, it's a design feature of this particular tray insert)

Umm...now what?

#nativeplants

This is such a lovely idea

The best card I got when my brother passed away was a biodegradable one with wildflower seeds embedded in the material. Unfortunately I lost it before I could plant it, but I appreciated the idea of growing flowers over eventually throwing away a dead floral arrangement.

Apr 19 update: 41/58 jugs have germinated

Newly sprouted #nativeplants include:

Boneset
Orange coneflower
Pale purple coneflower
Swamp milkweed
Butterfly weed
Virgin's bower
Wild violet

Pale yellow, trumpet shaped flowers hang from the reddish brown branch of a haskap bush, surrounded by elliptic green leaves edged in red

Like buttah

#sundayyellow
#bloomscrolling

A very fluffy black squirrel nibbles in something he or she holds with their front paws. The squirrel sat on the edge of our brown weathered deck for several minutes because scurrying down the fence line

My nemesis* stopped by for a snack

*Not really, but I wish he or she would stop messing with the "hospital bay" plants on my deck

#edge
#blueskyartshow

Fuzzy green leaves surround an equally fuzzy but lighter green bud in a pot with a dried leaf and a maple key (wild blue, or woodland, phlox)

White buds tinged with pink grow from the center of long, deep green basal leaves (field pussytoes)

My spouse suggested I get out of the house for some me-time. Obviously I did #garden stuff

I picked up an order from a #nativeplant nursery and got some hard to find species: field pussytoes and wild blue phlox

Then off to a garden center for a new blueberry shrub and an evening primrose

#flowers

Several sets of bright green cotyledons are growing in a plastic container filled with brown soil and chunky white perlite

Now that I feel more confident with the results of winter sowing, this will be my method of choice for challenging seeds

Indoor germination rates:
50% lavender
20% mountain mint
0% strawberry mint

Winter sowing rates (approx):
80% lavender
60% mount. mint
20% straw. mint

#herbs
#gardening

I'm picking up a native plant order tomorrow that includes some wild blue phlox. I was excited before but I'm even more so now, after having seen yours!

Fuzzy green leaves, tinged with red, and elongated flower buds grow at the end of a smooth, reddish brown branch on an Aurora haskap bush

I did a brief garden check after the mild flooding earlier this week

My haskap bushes clearly weren't hurt by all the extra moisture

#canadiangardening

I had to look those up because when I hear hundreds and thousands I think of sprinkles 😂

They look stunning, you'll have to do an update when they hit their peak. My toddler is obsessed with cherry tomatoes; I'm curious if Hs&Ts might be a better choice than the sweet millions I've planted

Thank you unknowingly reminding me to plant my Tiny Tims, I forgot all about them

Gorgeous! Wild columbines are a particular favourite of mine ♥️

An unopened trillium, with three leaves with large veins, tinged with red, grows in a bare spot in my back yard Once I see this trillium bloom, I'll know it's time to head to the wooded trails so I can see a sea of white which is always an exciting experience

My springtime equivalent of leaf peeping?

Watching forest floors transform into a sea of white and green

#flowers
#nativeplants

😕

A two toned plastic turtle sandbox lays in several inches of water, next to four old stems sticking out of the water, which is last year's growth on my turtlehead

We got so much rain last night that our backyard flooded

My kids' turtle sandbox floated 10 feet from its spot and ended up in the #nativeplant bed I made last year, almost right beside my red turtlehead

So I will briefly have a turtle pond of sorts

Apr 15 update: 29/58 jugs have germinated

New #nativeplants to add to my list:

Flat-topped white aster
Sky blue aster
Canada goldenrod
Bradbury's bee balm

Plus more wild bergamot, anise hyssop, prairie coneflower and grey goldenrod

Tiny red clusters of new growth, almost resembling miniature rose buds, can be seen at the base of last year's dried out stems

The milkweed is coming back for its second year

(Which hopefully means more monarchs in our yard this summer)

#redwed
#flowerreport

On the right side of the image is the light green and spiky new growth of a yarrow plant. On the left is the discarded exoskeleton of a cicada from last year (it had been hanging off a neighbouring lavender plant early last fall but clearly got dislodged from a winter's worth of heavy snow)

Something old, something new

#bugsky
#gardensky

Pointed shoots that appear scaly, like asparagus, are emerging. The older growth is green with a purplish hue while the newest growth appears blue-purple at the soil line. Now that the temperatures have been in the double digits with more periods of sunshine lately, the growth is progressing more quickly

One of my favourite purchases last fall: blue false indigo, during an end-of-season sale

It seems people don't fully appreciate these near natives as there was over a dozen left

So I bought two because, you know, the whole buddy system thing

Anyway, they're now reemerging

#bluetue
#flowerreport

Two 9-cell tray inserts are brimming with medium green, toothed, trifoliate leaves. Some cells have only one plant but several cells have 2-3 less developed seedlings growing in clumps (the strawberry seeds, though yellow in colour, are small enough that it's difficult to see where they end up while sowing) There were 38 young plants between the two inserts

A grid of nine 3 inch pots which hold one small strawberry plant in each, waiting to be watered before returning to grow shelves

A long overdue task completed: potting up the 'heirloom pineapple' alpine strawberries

It was a slow (almost agonizing) start to grow these from seed, but, having seen the results, I'll likely never buy strawberry plants again

#gardensky
#growyourown
#canadiangardening

Yes, it's something I've been wanting to do for a while. I'll have different mints, bee balms, basils, coneflowers, cornflowers, and lavenders. Plus as spicebush and a New Jersey tea shrub

Thank you!

A black 6-cell tray insert with six different green plants for my tea garden, most of which will be in containers to reduce spread From bottom left, clockwise: multiple broad leaves grow on the sturdy stem of butterfly pea seedlings; one small spearmint seedling with an even tinier sprout are slowly growing; four very small peppermint sprouts have only appeared within the last few days, originally sown on Mar 22; a little bit of a wild bergamot seedling can be seen behind a tall white plant market; a lemon bergamot seedling is slowly growing a second set of true leaves; and three small lemon balm seedlings with frilly true leaves are progressing slowly but steadily Several of these plants needing pricking out and potting up, which I can do now that I don't have to worry about displacing the peppermint seeds

Things are finally brewing in EVERY cell of this tray insert, full of tea garden plants

(The peppermint really made me work for it; the third attempt was the charm)

#greensat
#sixonsaturday
#herbgardening