Make a Three Season Nectar Harvest - PEP BB animal.sand.nectar

I'm using Northwest Meadowscapes Native Pollinator Seed Mix, which is 100% native plants:

Annual Wildflowers 29%

Douglas Meadowfoam (Limnanthes douglasii), Large Flower Collomia (Collomia grandiflora), Globe Gilia (Gilia capitata), Farewell to Spring (Clarkia amoena), Wine Cup Clarkia (Clarkia purpurea), Diamond Clarkia (Clarkia rhomboidea), Sea Blush (Plectritis congesta)

Perennial Wildflowers 39%

Springbank Clover (Trifolium wormskioldii), Douglas aster (Symphyotrichum subspicatum), Self Heal (Prunella vulgaris), Western Yarrow (Achillea millefolium), Large Camas (Camassia leichtinii), Puget Sound Gumweed (Grindelia integrifolia), Canada Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis), Riverbank Lupine (Lupinus rivularis), Common Camas (Camassia quamash), Bigleaf Lupine (Lupinus polyphyllus), Meadow Checkermallow (Sidalcea campestris), Meriwhether Blanketflower (Gaillardia aristata 'Meriwhether'), Western Columbine (Aquilegia formosa), Prairie Cinquefoil (Potentilla gracilis), Showy Milkweed (Asclepias speciosa), Fireweed (Chamaenerion angustifolium), Nettleleaf Giant Hyssop (Agastache urticifolia) Showy Fleabane (Erigeron speciosus), Wooly Sunflower (Eriophyllum lanatum)

Grasses 32%

Prairie Junegrass (Koeleria macrantha), Roemer’s Fescue (Festuca romerii), Tufted Hairgrass (Deschampsia cespitosa), Meadow Barley (Horedum brachyantherum)

Here's my really clumsy video of me sewing the seeds. I've actually been sewing seeds here since before our big snow in February, in hopes that successive seedings would end up meeting the needs of all the different varieties of wild flowers.



And here's the bloom time for 12 of the varieties:

  - Douglas Meadowfoam: March-May
  - Large Flower Collomia: April-July
  - Globe Gilia: May-Jul
  - Farewell to Spring (Clarkia amoena): June-August
  - Wine Cup Clarkia (Clarkia purpurea): April-July
  - Diamond Clarkia (Clarkia rhomboidea): June-July
  - Sea Blush (Plectritis congesta): May-July
  - Springbank Clover (Trifolium wormskioldii): May-September
  - Douglas aster (Symphyotrichum subspicatum): July-September
  - Self Heal (Prunella vulgaris): May-September
  - Western Yarrow (Achillea millefolium): April-September
  - Large Camas (Camassia leichtinii): May-June

I planted some flower seeds for pollinators.

I was lucky enough to bike over to the garden store down the street before...and found this packet of seeds for pollinators. The packet says It contains:

- Siberian wallflower ( May - June)
- Chinese forget-me-not (May - June)
- China aster (Aug - Sep)
- Purple coneflower (June - Oct)
- Blue flax (Apr - June)
- Lanceleaf coreopsis (Apr - July)
- Indian blanket (June - Frost)
- Corn Poppy (Apr - Jun)
- Basil (June - Frost)
- Sweet Mignonette (May - June)
- Lacy Phacelia (Apr - Jun)
- Plains coreopsis (Apr - Jun)

Bloom times from mobot.org where possible

The packet claims it had 50,000 seeds. I don't know about that, but I think that means it for sure contained at least 200.

Planting video:

Today I did this BB!!!  I planted a bunch of seed packets and gifted/traded seeds from other folks.  Here's a list of the seeds:
Blue Curled Scotch Kale - summer
Marigolds - summer/fall
Purple coneflower - summer/fall
Cosmos - summer/fall
Painted tongue - fall
Borage - summer
Lupine - spring/summer
Delphinium - early summer
Foxglove - early summer
Icelandic poppy - beats me
Partridge pea - summer
Hollyhock - summer
Bachelor buttons - beats me
Black eyed susans - summer
Hyssop - summer/fall
2.5' multiflower sunflower - summer/fall
Frenchie's giant yellow hyssop - summer

In my climate, "early summer" is as good as we get for "spring"

I planted the prairie mix from Northwest Meadowscapes in between some invasive pampas plants on public land! Here are the bloom times for twelve of the flowers in it:

- Self Heal (Prunella vulgaris): May-September
 - Western Yarrow (Achillea millefolium): April-September
 - Large Camas (Camassia leichtinii): May-June
- Globe Gilia: May-Jul
 - Farewell to Spring (Clarkia amoena): June-August
-Canada Goldenrod: August-October
-Woolly Sunflower: April-August
-Menzie's Fiddleneck: May-July
-Showy Fleabane - June-October
-Riverbank Lupine - May-June
-Roemer's Fescue - May-June
-California Oatgrass - May

The video has me spreading the seed on two patches, in total there were four patches of dirt between the pampas plants that I sowed with the prairie mix.

Here's my application for this BB:

Species list:
Calendula (pot marigold): summer, fall
Buckwheat (summer, fall)
Phacelia (summer)
Dill (summer)
Anise hyssop (summer, fall)
Catnip (spring)
Cilantro (summer)
Alyssum (spring, summer, fall)
Pale evening primrose (spring, summer)
Rocky mountain bee plant (summer)
Borage (summer, fall)
Swamp milkweed (spring, summer)
Common Flax (summer)
Cosmos "Sensation Mix" (summer, fall)
Chives (spring)
Foxgloves (spring, summer)
White columbine (spring, summer)
Baby's Breath (annual) (summer, fall)

Sowing seeds Video link:  

Malek, I really enjoy your guerilla gardening
Let us all remember the "No Mow" movement which allows more flowers for pollinators https://pollinatorplanet.com/no-mow-movement/. For those who really enjoy the look of lawn, please consider at least one month of not mowing.

Barbara Kochan wrote:Malek, I really enjoy your guerilla gardening

Thanks, Barbara! After checking on this spot a few weeks ago it doesn't look like any of it really sprouted, unfortunately. I know now that this wasn't really an ideal planting, mainly because I spread seeds in late spring, which is one of the worst times in California to sow seed (fall is much better). Pampas grass is also great at resprouting, so those plants I trimmed are doing fine.

The mowing habits of the city are a factor in the success of Pampas grass in this particular area. They like to go through and weed whack everything to the ground once a year. Pampas grass has deep roots and tolerates such treatment very well - it's not so great at competing with other plants growing in the same space. So the yearly mowing removes a lot of their competition.

Now, if I was dedicated to eradicating it, I could keep going back on a regular basis and cutting it to the ground, until eventually it runs out of energy. But that wouldn't be a very permanent solution. And my opinion on invasive species has softened since then.

None of this is related to the BB in this thread, so if you'd like to discuss it more I think another thread would be better.

......please consider at least one month of not mowing

Mowing is a powerful tool to bring back native ecosystems and pollinator habitat. But the timing is crucial.

When we moved onto our land, it was dominated by pasture grasses on the moister parts and annual European grasses in the drier sections. The annuals, unfortunately, were mostly Ripgut Brome, one of those grasses with barbed, porcupine-quill-like seeds that burrow into skin and clothing. It can injure the mouth and even the innards of both deer and livestock--thus the name. It also crowds out most wildflowers, by a combination of shading and sucking moisture from the top layer of soil. The plants are closely-spaced with shallow roots. (Native perennial bunchgrasses, in contrast, form widely-spaced tussocks that allow room in between for wildflowers. Grasses like Danthonia and Junegrass can act as nurse plants that prevent erosion, provide mulch materials, and shelter flowers from wind.)

We have pulled some mature brome in difficult areas, but mostly we have relied on mowing after the wildflowers set seed, and, if needed, in the early spring of wet years when the grass is tall but the flowers still are ground-hugging rosettes. Using a scythe or even a string trimmer, you can cut the grass at about 2-3" and leave the forbs (broadleaf plants) unhurt, if you do it early enough before they send up flowering stalks.

As I write, that dry area has California Poppy, Lupine, Amole, Yarrow, Red Maids, and Farewell to Spring, among others. There are several other less showy, but definitely nectar-rich native flowers, as well as the introduced flowers of Fillaree. The flowers are partnered by one perennial native grass and and one annual native grass, at wide spacings. We did not plant any of this, except for a few Amole bulbs.

My neighbors, who mow during bloom season, have fewer flowers, fewer  natives, and fewer nectar sources every year. The more you mow, the fewer flowers and the less biodiversity you get. To a point. Past that tipping point, if you don't mow at all, you also get fewer flowers and less diversity, because the grasses shade everything else out, both with their living blades and with the dead matter that builds up.

For this BB I found a mixed bag of seeds built to target pollinators on Amazon from Burpees.

The back of the packet says it contains the following seeds: Sow

- Siberian wallflower Late spring to early summer bloomer (late March to early July)
- Chinese forget-me-not blooms in March to late June
- China aster usually blooms in Summer, with the most prominent months being August and September, I have seen a few in July though
- Purple coneflower blooms April through September
- Blue flax in Colorado, usually blooms from April to October
- Lanceleaf coreopsis April to July bloomer
- Indian blanket blooms April through July
- Corn Poppy blooms April through July, although it occasionally can be seen in August
- Basil blooms April through a hard frost covering, which here in Colorado can be anytime after August
- Sweet Mignonette big summer bloomer. Seen mostly in May to August
- Lacy Phacelia blooms April to June
- Plains coreopsis blooms April to July

This bag claims it has 50k seeds, although I do not believe it. I am confident it has much more than 200

For some reason my youtube link is not populating into the message itself. However the link below contains the video of me spreading the seeds

https://youtube.com/shorts/lbDf0VOMvAw

The species I focused on for this badge are:

Spring: Lilac, Bee Balm, Gooseberries, Honey berries, Apple, yarrow
Summer: Ecchinacea, calendula, marigold, chamomile, blessed thistle, flax
Fall: Sunflowers, sunchokes, hollyhock, rudbeckia, nasturtiums

I bought pollinator mixes, with over 200 seeds inside. I also jumbled in seeds I collected, like marigold, hollyhock, calendula, and yarrow. The seed packet I bought suggested adding sawdust and broadcasting them. My video shows me throwing out seeds, Sepp style! https://youtube.com/shorts/WQKg1N1Tnac

I also gained these species in other ways, including transplanting my lilac bush and other flowers, taking bee balm and berry bush cuttings, ect. When seeds I purchased, like  St. Johns' Wort never came up, the discouragement led me to find local species that I could transplant right into my garden. So while I still planted the seeds, I feel like hundreds of expensive seeds might be less effective than a shovel and bucket!

I'm going to attempt the video upload. I may need guidance again as to how to post here.

https://youtube.com/shorts/A_Vr9dSsZmU?si=p54NXHCftyIfgpzv

To complete this BB, the minimum requirements are:
- you must plant at least 12 species of flowering plants
- at least 2 species must bloom in spring, 2 in summer and 2 in fall to give a 3 season planting
- you must plant at least 200 seeds

To show you've completed this Badge Bit, you must:
- post a list of the 12 species of flowering plants you are planting and mention when they bloom
- post a picture that obviously has 200 or more seeds
- post a short video (less that two minutes - sped up) showing these 200 seeds being planted

Seeds and Season
Yarrow (Spring/Summer)
Alyssum (Spring)
English Daisy (Spring)
Calendula (Summer/Fall)
Siberian Wallflower (Spring/Summer)
Shasta Daisy (Summer/Fall)
Coreopsis (Summer)
Sweet William (Spring/Summer/Fall)
Purple Coneflower (Summer/Fall)
California Poppy (Spring)
Gaillardia (Summer/Fall)
Baby's Breath (Spring/Summer)
Blue Flax (Spring)
Lupine (Spring/Summer)
Iceland Poppy (Spring/Summer)
Prairie Coneflower (Summer/Fall)
Black Eyed Susan (Summer/Fall)
Viola (Spring/Summer)