the Seeds of Spring

It may still be winter and there may be a foot of snow on the ground here at Domicile Ecophile, but it is time to start planning for this spring's plantings. Since I was a child I have planted seeds indoors before the last frost to give the plants a head start. In those early days it was my father mentoring me with his green thumb as he taught me to start beans and tomatoes in our basement windows.

 This will be the first complete growing season for us here and I intend to make the most of it. We have a long, long way to go in covering our typical American xenoscape into the native habitat that I envision. There are physical repairs and improvements for the house that need to take place before we make large-scale changes to the shrubs and trees. (Construction might damage new plantings adjacent to the house.) There is plenty of room, however, for some perennials and garden plants in the outlying areas.

 The live plants and rootstocks won't be delivered until the last frost approaches, but the seeds have already arrived. We'll be planting a handful of garden plants this year; pumpkins, wax beans, and carrots. These domestic annuals are not exactly native species, but garden vegetables are essentially non-invasive and planting a garden is a great asset for household sustainability. Home gardens reduce the need for shipping produce across the country and gardeners can control the pesticides and synthetic fertilizers (or hopefully lack thereof) added to the crops. The benefits of gardening are diverse and abundant, but the full scope of them is food for another post.

 Besides the vegetables we'll be planting some flowers this year. Zinnias are a favorite of mine not just for their appearance, but also for the seeds they provide to birds like goldfinches in the fall. Lupine and Cardinal Flower are two Northeast natives that will be planted in large number this year. Their tall size will help to fill the vertical space that will be left above a terrace where some Japanese Barberry is slated for obliteration. The Cardinal Flower should also be a strong draw for hummingbirds this fall. We'll also be planting some Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa) from seed.  This is not Butterfly Bush, the invasive Asian shrub that attracts adult butterflies but provides no food to the caterpillars of those species.  Rather, Butterfly Weed is a native milkweed perennial that provides food for entire life cycles of native butterfly species.  We planted a number of these last summer and I am waiting to see how well they survived the winter and if the seeds they produced last fall will emerge elsewhere.

It's still a bit early to plant most of these seeds, but the Cardinals and Lupine can take over a month to germinate.  They will be going into some potting soil soon enough.  I find thrill in planting something new and observing how the timing of its first emergence, the manner in which it grows, and the forms the leaves and flowers take as they develop.  In short, I can't wait for spring.