Seeds

The seed heads of flowering plants can rival the blossoms in delicacy and design, especially when viewed up close. Each plant has a distinctive way of forming and protecting the seeds so that they will disperse at the optimum time.

Above is Papaver somniferum, whose blooms last just a few days, already forming the pod which has to be among the most elegant of seed dispersal mechanisms.

The cap of the seed pod protects the little openings directly underneath, which transform the pod into a shaker for the thousands of tiny black seeds.

  

Allium, Mount Everest

Each floret forms a tiny case which opens in late summer to reveal the seeds.

Centaurea montana

Cosmos sulphureus

Monarda didyma                    

Echinacea purpurea

 

The seed heads of many plants, including Echinacea, can be left in the garden for birds to snack on during the winter.

Less is more: space,light, air

There's a moment in mid-summer when everything in the garden seems at a peak of bloom and size, then suddenly one day, maybe after a rain storm, the plants looks crowded and messy, leaning into each other, some covered over entirely. Although I love grey-leaved plants such as Artemesia and Lamium, garden experts always warn against their spreading invasive habits and this year I have to agree with them. The answer is to pull them out when they start to take over, leaving just enough to spread next year. So, starting with a small area I weeded anything out that looked as though it was crowding other plants and I focused on creating more space and light in the border. Air circulation is important for healthy plants. Some perennials, such as Monarda, will be more likely to acquire mildew on the leaves if overcrowded.

Part of the border showing evidence of weeding and thinning, making sure air gets to the plants up against the fence.

I'm interested in plants that arrive by chance in the garden from birds or wind or squirrels, so when weeding I usually leave things that I'm not sure about. The big grey-green leaves of the wildflower Verbascum appeared in an interesting place along the stone steps of a path. I have left them there to see what they will do. I will have to wait to see until next year when they will sprout a tall, yellow-flowered stalk.

Reward at the end of a day of weeding