For years, I have been battling the elements in two small patches of land between the front sidewalk and the street. At one point, variegated liriope lived there, but it allowed too many weeds to grow. Since 2020, various combinations of angelonia, verbena, ice plant, and other plants have failed in these plots. These plants don’t spread very much, so I put down mulch to help suppress weeds. Summer rains, though seldom, have tended to be downpours, washing the mulch away. After the summer of 2024, the beds looked ragged and weedy.
This spring, while driving, I passed a house with wildflowers growing in its sidewalk plots. The wildflowers were so prolific that it was impossible to spot any weeds, so this year I decided to add wildflowers. Fortunately, the birds and wind had already seeded these patches with coneflowers and tickseed, so they were not completely barren.
My history with seeds dates back to fourth grade when I bought a 10-cent pack of marigold seeds with dreams of having a huge patch of flowers. Not one seed germinated. Since then, I have been very wary of growing anything from seeds. Given that history, I only half believed that the wildflower seeds would really germinate. However, being desperate and tired of constantly replacing mulch, I bought a small pack of Georgia-native wildflower seeds and hoped for the best.
After about three weeks, the first seedlings appeared, and I jumped for joy that my decades-long disappointment with seeds had ended. Now, nearly eight weeks later, the blooms have started to arrive, and I am ecstatic!!! The packet contained 18 species of flower seeds, and so far, seven have bloomed. Meet the new folks!
