Pete Matting

I'm in the Seattle area trying to get a Camas patch going in an area maybe 50ft square.  First year I planted maybe 100 bulbs and they came up, so next year I planted a few hundred more.  Still not blue enough for me, so I planted about 400 more this year.  I lots of bulbs coming up right now, so hoping it starts looking like a sea of blue 🙂 I was surprised how many bulbs it takes to make an impact, but at 50x50 it would take 2500 bulbs to have one per square foot.  I didn't do the math when I started, just kind of experimenting.

No plans to eat them, just trying to add color and diversity to the field (and based on other replies it sounds like they are tricky to use as a food source anyway.)

Thank you all for the thoughtful replies so far! Lots of good ideas.  Looking forward to doing some research on them 😀

Hi all, I have a half acre or so of field that I'm wanting to make a little more bio diverse and aestheticly pleasing.  

So I was thinking of sprinkling a few trees in there, maybe service berry since they are native and drought tolerant, have white flowers, berries, etc.

Any other suggestions?

Overall goal is just to make it more Meadow ish, I've been planting camas and other bulbs to add more color interest and  more pollinators.  So bulb ideas welcome too 😀

I'm trying skirret this year - not sure about your zone, but it's perennial in the PNW.

Started asparagus too, finay!

I have an orchard of mostly quack grass.  I tried adding english daisy plugs this year that I started from seed, and I think they are surviving but I haven't seen flowers yet.  Anything else I could mix in like that w/o having to kill and rototill the whole thing?

I love my Meadow Creature broad fork too! I use it to break up beds before planting, and for ripping apart sod in fields when planting trees.  If I could go back in time, this would be one of my first purchases.

Hey thanks, that does help! I do also have some Comfrey planted, but I was starting to worry about it's need to have moist soil. The location is full sun, and although fairly moist for 3/4 of the year it gets quite dry in the summer here (Seattle area).

Maybe it will be okay after all though. It will at least get some partial shade from the trees and maybe from the Borage (depending on how tall it gets).

And I do have the trees on a drip line, so I could possibly loop it out to give the Comfrey a little water as well when it is really hot and dry.

Guess I will see how it goes!

What I'm looking for is a dynamic accumulator that takes full sun and has minimal water requirements, but is perennial. I know Borage will self seed, but I'm worried it won't "win" and grow in my environment (which is basically your typical fruit orchard with grass everywhere). I'm trying to crowd out the grass around the trees and provide shade/nourishment at the same time.

Any suggestions?