Sunday 29 May 2011

mini floral tapestry

close-up pocket sized wild flower meadow
At Christmas a friend of ours in Massachusettes sent us a packet of New England wild flower seeds. The dearly beloved other half -- Niall that is -- decided to sow them in March, we wrote about it here. We weren't expecting that much as one never knows how long these seeds have been in packets and, as a city boy, initially homesick for pavements; his green thumb isn't very green. Although to be fair, it is getting greener by the week. 

a mini-floral tapestry

They didn't do much to start with despite watering. However, latterly they have decided to show they do exist. The packet said it was enough for 350 sq ft but in the event they were sown over a patch of about 3ft by 7 ft --- one should always read the instructions/information!! Although we didn't know it then, if they'd been sown over the indicated square footage I doubt we would have noticed them. 

From the outset I teased him about the likely outcome, but I'm eating humble pie and he is having the last laugh as the photos show. It may be pint-sized, and the flowers are definitely 'dinky', but we do have a mini-wild flower meadow. 

the lizard orchid under tilleul



Our other orchids -- lizard orchids -- are now flowering as well. Perhaps not as pretty as the bee orchid,  we are still very pleased to have them in residence. They have all grown in deep shade, one under our tilleul, the other 3 under a cherry in our hedge.

6 comments:

The Broad said...

I am in New England at the moment and have just decided to get a packet of those seeds and to sow them just as we leave the Lot sometime in October. Since we never get to France until at least the end of June and don't have a gardener our orchard is pretty wild -- worth a try!

GaynorB said...

Proof that sometimes, one (aka Niall), needs to break the rules, even if one's green thumb isn't very green!

I wonder what it will be like next year........?

Niall & Antoinette said...

@The Broad--I'd definitely give it a try. It may well be that the drought has had an effect on results here.

@Gaynor-- hopefully next year it will be larger :-)!

Craig said...

Hi Guys - what a lovely splash of colour and all out of a packet. Imagine how good they would have been with a little natural rain. Hopefully you'll get to enjoy them for years to come.

Tim said...

They look nice... you've got some scarlet flax in there... as well as a dwarf flax [the pale one with the darker edges to the petals].
I would suggest gathering the seed and sowing it elsewhere [at the same time that the ones you leave shed their seeds... then rake them in.
Job's a goodun!
Oh! Ken came by yesterday.... job's a goodun! We've got fosse étanche...

WV is "instr"... as in "read the damn instr...."

Niall & Antoinette said...

@Craig--it may be bijou but does deliver on colour. :-)

@Tim-- we'll see if we can--plants are miniature so that could be a right fiddly job. Think we might beg a couple more packets from our friend in Massachusettes instead....