Winter Planting

Sometimes we have to strew a few seeds in the winter in order to have some summer flowers.  Some seeds benefit from the extreme cold found in a snowbank, in the spring they will be watered by the snow as it melts  and hopefully they will grow! I took this photo last summer, can you tell what it is?

Far Guy had collected some of this plants seed heads last fall, he put them in a paper bag. One evening he got his collection out and began to clean seeds..it is putzy work..but he enjoys it. He separates the seeds from the chaff. I think he just likes the feel of the seeds falling out of the flower heads onto his collection paper..and watching his seed bag fill up!

He had a plan, he wanted to strew some seeds out in the snowbanks between snowfalls. He would like the whole area near the sauna and my garage filled with wildflowers. He gave me a spiel about a quaint little split rock walkway meandering out to the sauna..with wildflowers growing on both sides. He painted a pretty picture.

Here it is blooming, it is a Grey Headed Coneflower or Ratibida pinnata. It is a prairie flower and grows in dry woods and prairies. It likes the sun, and usually grows about four feet tall and the deer don't eat it! It is not fussy about soil or moisture. The only thing I dislike about it is that it is hard to photograph on windy days...because the plants are so tall they sway in the breeze. It is a plant native to Minnesota:)