March Newsletter - Leaving a Gardening Legacy Pollinator Gardening Tips and Tricks Let’s talk about a Gardening Legacy….
I love contemplating, strategizing, and creating action steps to establish a legacy in the garden. What image do you want to leave on the world? How do you want to make a difference? A sustainable, lasting one?
Our goal is to leave a lasting legacy of love, beauty, and peace. We achieve all of this through creating beautiful spaces and teaching people how to garden. We are SO Excited that you are here to join us on this adventure.
Gardening is one way to achieve leaving a lasting legacy. And here’s how with a pollinator garden:
1. Milkweed
Milkweed is the only leaf that a Monarch larvae will feed on. With the Monarch butterfly on the verge of extinction, planting milkweed is a step in reserving your legacy within our local environment. I’ve found in my experience that Milkweed does not like to be babied. I’ve tried growing milkweed from seed by planting them indoors in beautiful soil. Not a single one made it. Milkweed is a native plant to the Nashville area and really enjoys the rugged environment outdoors. I cast the seed directly outdoors on a cool, fall day and the following year my yard exploded with milkweed and butterflies galore. It’s just that simple. Cast the seeds in a spot that will receive full sun and our sweet friend, other Nature, will handle the rest!
Milkweed SEED is best sown in fall, so as you plan ahead for your 2024 garden, make sure to save a spot for milkweed. We can also plant a nice, robust Milkweed PLANT this Spring!
We can help you create the perfect bespoke pollinator garden. Contact us here to schedule a free 15-minute discovery call: Star Garden Consulting
Avoid unnecessary mistakes and get your garden growing this year so you are enjoying all those pollinator visitors this growing season.
2. Sunflowers
Sunflowers are another easy and beautiful addition to your pollinator friendly garden. The birds will be happy to help reseed your sunflowers for years to come for you. Sunflowers can grow up to 30 feet tall!! Most sunflowers will be between 7-8 feet. There are single branch sunflowers and there are multiple branch varieties. I choose to plant plenty of both in my garden. I appreciate the smaller, more manageable multi-branching ones for cut flowers. I grow some large ones because they are a fun teaching opportunity for lessons as we teach in the garden. It also makes you a good friend to all the wildlife that appreciates an easy snack.
You can order some of my favorites from Junior Sunflower or Red Sun
3. Borage
Borage seeds can be started indoors now in the Nashville area (six weeks before your last frost date) and is a wonderful pollinator plant. The flowers taste mildly like cucumbers and look lovely in salads or even in ice cubes to create a refreshing cool drink on a hot summer day. Borage is typically a beautiful, light blue with the perfect flower form for pollinators to drink from. I plant borage near my tomatoes because they are a legacy in their own right, well known for making tomatoes taste better. Borage also deters cabbageworm and tomato hornworm, keeping your tomatoes pest free.
You can purchase the blue borage seeds that I love from Blue Borage
And the white seeds are offered from
There are a multitude of pollinator plants that are easy to grow. Watch for more details in coming newsletters or contact us at Star Garden Consulting to get going on your 2024 pollinator garden TODAY!
Rooting for your garden,
Angie
Making the World More Beautiful
One Garden at a Time.
Coming up in our next newsletter - teaching yourself/others self-sustainability. We will focus on food education, the garden being your classroom and connecting with those you love while doing meaningful work together in the garden, your backyard sanctuary.
It doesn’t need to be all or none. At Star Garden Consulting, our aim is to set you up for success. Start small, master growing individual groups of plants, one at a time. Every growing season you will get smarter and your learning will deepen as you spend more time with our ultimate guide in the garden: Mother Nature
Stay tuned and look for more earn more in our April Newsletter.
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