Grow a Three Season Nectar Harvest - PEP BB animal.straw.nectar

I have a question about this; does this have to be planting by *seeds* only? What about flowers that are better propogated by corms, bulbs, cuttings or other methods?

Good question...  I think if more than half are seeds it would seem ok to me.  I think the idea is that you get to a place in life where you hurl a few thousand seeds in an area and get bazillions of flowers without having to do much work.  Maybe plant 200 seeds for a three season harvest AND propagate the other way.  The pictures don't have to be just of the seed planted flowers.

I was just about to ask that same question mainly because spring ephemerals are best planted by corms, bulbs, or even plant splits and most of those are ridiculously difficult from seed. I've been planting for three seasons for 5 years now and by far the most difficult are very early spring flowers. I still use a number of annuals but I've planted a couple of thousand Crocus spp., Camassia scilloides (wild hyacinth), hundreds of heirloom variety small daffodils (that still offer pollinator resources unlike their heavily tweaked cousins), snowdrops, etc. Last year I planted loads of more than a dozen native spring ephemeral seeds. I saw no plants stem from that in beds or in flats. I have bees on crocus and snowdrops right now. Without those, there would be little in the way of resources for them.

Do all the flowers have to be in the same small area, or can they be in various places around the property (but grouped for easy pollinator access, not scattered).

How about things we already have growing? Bees are all over the crocus at the moment, and I have several concentrated groups of them. Not going to get much in the way of spring flowers from seed this year!

If this was the sand badge, you just have to plant the spring, summer and fall blooming seeds.  But this is Straw level so you need to show them blooming.  Autumn is probably a great time to start this particular BB.  

I would say that they should be able to show up in two pictures or less.  So scattered clumps would probably be fine if you can capture them well enough in two pics.

Things you already have growing don't count since this is a BB for planting the seeds and seeing the blooms.

Thanks Mike. I'm going to be planting a pollinator garden anyway this year, just working out if it will fit with this.

Can these points be earned by documenting the 3 seasons of blooms that grew from the seeds that you planted for the Sand BB, or does a completely separate pollinator garden at a different location on my property need to be planted to achieve the points for this straw BB? What if 200 additional seeds were added to a pollinator garden area that was started for the Sand BB?

I think they need to be a different set of seeds.  They could be in a similar location.  So if you planted 1/4 acre, plus a modestly large additional area, you could reasonably call one bit your Sand badge section, another part of it the Straw badge part and the 1/4 acre part the Wood section.

PEP Animal Straw

2 that bloom in Spring: Nasturtium, Yarrow
2 that bloom in Summer: Marygold, chives
2 that bloom in Fall: Sunflower, crimson clover

12+ species of flowering plants and when they bloom
Nasturtium: April
Western Yarrow (Achillea millefolium): April-September
Woolly Sunflower: April-August
Baby's Breath: May
Cornflower: May - June
Sage: May-June
Large Camas (Camassia leichtinii): May-June
Comfrey: May-June
Bachelor Button: May-June
Poppy: May-July
Chive: May-July
Calendula:May-Aug
Marigold: May-Aug
Butterfly weed: May-Sep
Valerian: May-Sept
Zinnia: May-October
Crimson Clover:  June
Sage: June-November
Black Eyed Susan: May-July
Echinacia/Coneflower: June-August
Butterfly Milkweed: June-August
Nasturtium: June-September
Sunflower: June-September
Gayfeather: July-September
Borage: June-September
Sage: June-November
Crimson Clover: August- October

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
- demonstrate that hundreds of flowers are blooming in each season (spring, summer, fall)

To show you've completed this Badge Bit, you must:
- post a list of the 12 (or more) species of flowering plants you are planting and mention when they bloom
- show planting of obviously more than 200 seeds
- at least two or more pictures of hundreds of flowers blooming in each season (spring, summer, fall) (six total pics)

Jennifer, please do your full submission in one post when you're all done with it.  Certifiers can't be looking back for past posts to mentally put together your submission.  Thanks!

Last year, I planted seeds for pollinators, and earned the sand level bb: permies.com/p/1571121 (so you can see more picts, if you want)
This year, I've paid attention to which plants came up and which flowers bloom in which seasons.
Starting in the spring, I have all the fruit blossoms: choke cherry, cherry, apple, apricot, strawberries, currants, gooseberries, and green onions and dandelion varieties
In early summer, the shrubs begin to flower, such as lavender, echinacea, calendula, evening primrose, all the mints, and grapes
in later summer comes nasturtium, creeping woodruff, sage, bee balm, and milkweed
in the FALL comes the jerusalem artichikes, or sun chokes, and any weeds I haven't chopped and dropped, including wild lettuce, wild sunflowers, and thistles