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polyculture

Wonderfully wild

Jen Fulkerson

gardener

Posts: 2005

Location: N. California

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posted 2 years ago

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I have several garden areas. I guess you could say I'm addicted to gardening. My veggie garden is made up of several different raised beds. I'm into polyculture in a big way. I love living mulch. I have had great luck over planting my beds. So I'm sure you can imagine by mid to late summer my garden looks very wild. Flowers, Herb and veggies oh my.

This year I seem to be starting out on the wild side. I cleaned the beds. The weather has made everything about 6 weeks behind, so the beds themselves are still a little spare. But the paths between some of the beds are crowded with bachelor buttons, borage, and hollyhocks. At some point I will have to trim, or remove them, but for now I think they are wildly beautiful.

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“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” — Abraham Lincoln

Shari Clark

gardener

Posts: 219

Location: East Beaches area of Manitoba, Zone 3

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posted 2 years ago

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Jen, it looks beautiful! I love the wildness. What is the fence-looking thing? Is it some kind of paneling. I absolute love the idea of having flowers in the pathways. Much better than "weeds!"

Best serotonin-booster ever: garden time.

Jen Fulkerson

gardener

Posts: 2005

Location: N. California

1012

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posted 2 years ago

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The fence thing is a cattle panel trellis. It's 50" I think and 16' long. Held in place by a t post ( some people use 2 t post if they get high winds). I put it about a foot from the edge of each bed. I love it.

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“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” — Abraham Lincoln

Jen Fulkerson

gardener

Posts: 2005

Location: N. California

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posted 2 years ago

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I didn't plant any of the flowers in the paths. I had bachelor buttons in one of my beds last year. I planted borage several years ago and it continues to Pop up everywhere. The hollyhocks were in the flower bed on the outside of the garage, and they keep popping up ( I have to remove most of those because they get so big,). I like it, but it makes getting to some of my garden beds tough.

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” — Abraham Lincoln

Jen Fulkerson

gardener

Posts: 2005

Location: N. California

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posted 3 weeks ago

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I guess wild and beautiful seems to be the theme of my garden. It won't be long before I need to plant my summer veggies and my main veggie garden is loaded. I enjoy the look, and the pollinators are having such a good time it's hard for me to remove plants to make room for what's to come.

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“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” — Abraham Lincoln

Jen Fulkerson

gardener

Posts: 2005

Location: N. California

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posted 1 week ago

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My garden is making its own bouquet. Bolted cilantro has fallen over on the nasturtium.

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“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” — Abraham Lincoln

Judith Browning

Posts: 10315

Location: a temperate, clay/loam spot on planet earth, the universe

3553

posted 6 days ago

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beautiful!!!

do you happen to know the variety of comfrey I see there in previous photos that has those bright blue blooms?
I have that one and have been trying to ID.

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Anne Miller

steward

Posts: 18779

Location: USDA Zone 8a

4752

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posted 6 days ago

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Thanks for the update! There is something magical in wonderfully wild...

Invasive plants are Earth's way of insisting we notice her medicines. Stephen Herrod Buhner
Everyone learns what works by learning what doesn't work. Stephen Herrod Buhner

M Ljin

master gardener

Posts: 2351

Location: Zone 5

1330

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posted 6 days ago

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Judith Browning wrote:beautiful!!!

do you happen to know the variety of comfrey I see there in previous photos that has those bright blue blooms?
I have that one and have been trying to ID.

Not borage?

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Jim Garlits

gardener

Posts: 611

Location: Wabash, Indiana, Zone 6a

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posted 6 days ago

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If we're voting, I'll put five scarlet runner bean seeds on Bocking 14, which tend to fall in the blue to purple spectrum. It's what I have in my orchard, which isn't truly a food forest yet but probably will become so thie summer.

Jim

Judith Browning wrote:beautiful!!!

do you happen to know the variety of comfrey I see there in previous photos that has those bright blue blooms?
I have that one and have been trying to ID.

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Judith Browning

Posts: 10315

Location: a temperate, clay/loam spot on planet earth, the universe

3553

posted 6 days ago

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M Ljin wrote:

Judith Browning wrote:beautiful!!!

do you happen to know the variety of comfrey I see there in previous photos that has those bright blue blooms?
I have that one and have been trying to ID.

Not borage?

that is probably so...my comfrey has the same color bloom and I can't see the leaves in the pictures.

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Judith Browning

Posts: 10315

Location: a temperate, clay/loam spot on planet earth, the universe

3553

posted 6 days ago

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Jim Garlits wrote:If we're voting, I'll put five scarlet runner bean seeds on Bocking 14, which tend to fall in the blue to purple spectrum. It's what I have in my orchard, which isn't truly a food forest yet but probably will become so thie summer.

Jim

Judith Browning wrote:beautiful!!!

do you happen to know the variety of comfrey I see there in previous photos that has those bright blue blooms?
I have that one and have been trying to ID.

thanks Jim!
Here's my thread with photos of my comfrey varieties.
https://permies.com/t/370672/ID-types-comfrey

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Jim Garlits

gardener

Posts: 611

Location: Wabash, Indiana, Zone 6a

298

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posted 6 days ago

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Here's a fresh post of my Bocking 14 comfrey taken this morning for reference.

Jim

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M Ljin

master gardener

Posts: 2351

Location: Zone 5

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posted 6 days ago

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This convinced me even more it’s borage.

But Judith’s all seem to be comfrey.

In the pictures above, the flowers are all like stars (borage), not bells (comfrey). In Judith’s thread, and J’s picture, they are bell shaped, and also in my garden, they also are bell shaped (comfrey). The shape of the inflorescences is flatter and more spreading in Jen’s pictures, and the flowers are more dominant as opposed to leaves. The stems are more rigid. All of this makes me think borage.

One can never be too kind to oneself or others.

Judith Browning

Posts: 10315

Location: a temperate, clay/loam spot on planet earth, the universe

3553

posted 6 days ago

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thanks jim and m Ljin!
I was seeing color and not flower shape.

sorry for the thread sidetrack Jen!

"We're all just walking each other home." -Ram Dass
"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
"It's all one song!" -Neil Young

Jen Fulkerson

gardener

Posts: 2005

Location: N. California

1012

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posted 6 days ago

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The blue one is borage. I'm in N. California zone 9B I have only had success one to growing comfrey, and it was by seeds. Borage on the other hand is a rock star for me. I planted it once years ago and have had it ever since. We had a super mild winter this year and the borage are monsters, which is fabulous for me, because the bees love it, and it makes great compost.
Thanks for all your great comments, and the fun what's that plant game.

“We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses.” — Abraham Lincoln

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