My Early Winter Garden


There can be no doubt that winter is here. Most of my wildflower garden has passed from blooms to seeds and I have been busy collecting them for propagation. Over the past week, I have sowed the seed of at least 25 different wildflower species - most from seed I've collected from my landscape.  It is an exciting time - sowing seed and waiting for them to germinate. A few, like my Georgia and Western silver aster (Symphyotrichum georgianum and S. sericeus) have already started to emerge from the soil in my flats, but most will take weeks. I tour my hobby nursery that I call Hawthorn Hill each morning to peruse the progress - and to smooth out the soil disturbed by my resident gray squirrel that seems hellbent on burying things. 
I'm still collecting the seed from my silver aster (S.. concolor) and waiting for my scaleleaf aster (S. adnatum) to finish. Though most of my wildflowers are finished, I've still got a few in flower. The secret to a well-planned wildflower garden, designed for pollinators, is to have something in bloom for as many months as possible. The problem with late bloomers, however, is that most of my pollinators seem to have left. They are ready for winter as well and will return again in the spring. Many of my blooms may not get pollinated because of this. Time will tell. I will sow their seed and hope for the best.
Over the years, I have used my seed to propagate wildflowers that are not commonly sold in the native plant commercial market. A few that I started with nearly 30 years ago, like starry rosinweed (Silphium asteriscus) are now a staple in the market and I do not grow them anymore. It used to be impossible to find this adaptable wildflower at any of the native plant nurseries so I collected seed one day along US 19 in Citrus County and grew it myself. My hope is that many of the wildflowers I am currently growing will also someday be more easily available. The market is changing as more people understand the importance of native wildflowers to pollinators. A nursery that relies on sales to stay in business can't grow something that doesn't sell. We create that market that expands what is offered. I visit a lot of native plant nurseries here in Florida and each year I see more species being propagated. It is rewarding to see this growth in the industry. It is up to each of us to learn wildflowers, the host plants of butterflies native to our region, and to plant accordingly. We should not simply rely on what we find at a native plant nursery if there are wildflowers we learn about from books and travels afield. Ask for what you want and realize that someone is probably growing it somewhere. If not, search for the seed yourself - and then make it available to others. Together, we will grow the market.

Here's a few of the late wildflowers blooming yet today in my new landscape that are not widely grown.
Silver aster

Scaleleaf aster

Earred coreopsis

A form of rice button aster that may be a different species

Flyr's nemesis


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