Troutbirder II

Troutbirder II
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Monday, October 5, 2015

Oak Hill Drive


Our now fifteen year old home sits on "Oak Hill." Here, surrounded by magnificent white and burr oaks, I had to give up my sunny gardens. We had divided our property, selling our old house in the open, and building a new one in the adjacent woods. The wooded areas have been gradually converted to shady wildflower gardens. They are now my gardening pride and joy. Still, there was one area I wasn't quite sure what to do with. It was a six foot, east facing bank, on the edge of the woods. Leading down to the ditch along the road, it was a maze of gooseberry bushes, burdock and uncounted weeds. It couldn't be mowed, yet offered a half a day of sunshine. What to do?
 I decided to try and give it a "prairie look" and hoped the morning sunshine would be adequate. In the fall of 2007, I cut back the gooseberries and prickly ash.. Then, that fall, the bank got burned. I had already purchased some native wildflower seeds from Prairie Moon, a local wildflower specialist. Raking the ground, then scattering and tamping the seeds, I hoped the spring melt wouldn't wash them all into the ditch. We had lots of snow that winter.

There was no way for me to tell that spring as to what came up. I couldn't identify the weeds from the flowers. So I waited till the maze reached about 6-8 inches in June and then weed whacked everything down to about 3 inches. Now my precious wildflowers would have a fighting chance. The bulbs I had planted, of course, bloomed that first spring. The rest would have to wait at least another year before blooming.... if they survived!

Two years later, the summer of 2009, purple coneflowers, and woodland phlox made their first appearance.
August 2011: the brown eyed susans put in a not very modest appearance.
The summer of 2015 has seen a cascade of changing color.
Now in the early October the  “ditch bank” the fall asters have joined the show. The smooth asters with their sky blue look and the deep purple of the New England ones dominate the show. The latter with remain blooming till the snow arrives…..
 
Look close. The bumblebees love the asters too!
What fun!  And the neighbors all toot their horns and wave as they come and go.

 

 

26 comments:

  1. That bank is just beautiful. You certainly have something to be proud of!

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  2. I love asters. I have them in my North garden. The butterflies love them too.
    I like your garden.
    Carla

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  3. It looks wonderful! I love the Fall yellow and purple flowers! You did good with a bank that was just a weed patch!! :)

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  4. Absolutely gorgeous, TB! Love it!

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  5. Very nice Ray, I love all the asters blooming at my place.

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  6. It looks great! Low maintenance too--that's the best part.

    I found a nursery that offered some native plants (outside of the usual bee balm, coneflowers, etc.) and bought a bunch this year. They were great in the garden--so little maintenance! I love gardens you don't have to water.

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  7. I love all the pictures, but especially that last wonderful one of the bee. :-)

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  8. I am totally impressed! Your foresight and planning have resulted in a beautiful natural look that, aside from your own pleasure, probably delights all who pass by. Wonderful wildflowers which, of course, I am especially pleased to see.

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  9. I applaud you for caring and working so hard to develop something into a natural area. You must gain a lot of satisaction from this project.

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  10. Well done, that's a lovely achievement. Love the last picture, it would be perfect for a greeting card.

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  11. Wow, you have really created a show place out of a ditch. It was interesting to see each years progression. I have a spot like that I need to do something with. You have inspired me.

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  12. I really like the look. I know it takes a lot of patience to get things in and then wait another year to see if it grew. The wild gardens are so great to see.

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  13. It took a lot of patience and faith, but wow! It's gorgeous now. Good job!

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  14. I am always in awe of gardeners like you. Just having the patience to wait for it to become a reality is amazing....and to know how to do it !! Lovely.

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  15. How beautiful! Good work, great rewards!

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  16. really nice! i love those purple asters. ours here are white.

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  17. Oh I love all the wildflowers -- your patience paid off. If only more folks would realize the beauty of such flowers! --- barbara

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  18. You certainly had a talent to know what to do with all that outdoor space. It's lovely.

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  19. Hi Troutbirder, Congrats on what you have done with that "ditch bank" ... really looks good now. Great example of what can be done with hard work, determination, and time. You have also put a very nice new header picture on since my last visit. Always a pleasure to stop by your blog.

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  20. Great job! I can't drive by because I live too far away, but here's my honk: Honk, honk!
    And I bet the bees, birds and butterflies really appreciate you.

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  21. What a beautiful garden area, and great for wildlife. I need to sacrifice some of my showy perennials (mainly phlox, which have expanded out of control) in favor of a few more native species like those asters. Thanks for posting this!

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  22. I'm so excited to see your gardening endeavors! Great job!!! I'd love to be your neighbor!

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  23. Your ditch bank is looking great now. You've done an amazing job. It's always good to support the bees, too.

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  24. I appreciate the photos taken over time here, your wildflowers look fantastic! Our neighbor up the road to the north, a retired game warden and avid gardener, has been covering his property with native wildflowers for decades, and I just love them.
    We put in some lupine this year in a patch where I hope it'll take off. Really nice work, TB!

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  25. Your wildflowers look great. I would like to put in wildflowers along the road. Maybe next year.

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