garden news-flowers in our garden

GARDEN NEWS-FLOWERS IN OUR GARDEN

at our community gardens we have a front meadow that we use for seasonal events
in the spring we either let it just grow with whatever seeds are planted by nature
or it will be planted with oats or with wildflowers
this year we let it just grow
we have oats lots of sunflowers bachelor buttons some weeds some flowers i dont know what they are and 
these beautiful bright red poppies that stand out as you drive up to park
they are scattered throughout the meadow
ok i scattered some red poppy seeds in different places the last two years
these are some of the progeny from last years poppy flowers

flowers are real important in the garden as they provide a source of food for bees
lots of bees 
these bees help to pollinate our vegetables and our fruit trees

most of our plot holders plant flowers in their garden beds
i accept whatever nature plants in my garden supplementing it with flowers like sunflowers and marigolds
marigolds eg are a good trap plant for insects especially near tomatoes
so i plant them in my tomato beds

in my garden nature has planted lots of calendula and borage so far


these are orange poppies that are everywhere in our garden
we  never have to plant them they just show up
we usually leave them where they grow unless they are in the way


these purple flowers are sweet peas
they are in a plot just as you enter our garden
you can smell them before you reach the gate
they make great flower arrangements for the home

those white flowers are fava bean flowers
we grow them usually as a cover crop as they fix nitrogen in the soil
some folks save the bean seeds and eat them
we usually save the seeds to keep our seed supply up for our cover crop plantings


this blue flower is a borage
its flowers are edible 
they are a brilliant blue
bees just go crazy over this one 
it stays covered with bees all day long


this is a poppy also
i forgot the name of it
it is in the garden plot of a gardener who grows a lot of lowers for her dyeing classes

those yellow flowers in the background are calendula
we never have to plant those either
they are everywhere in the garden

this big ole sunflower just popped up in our front area near the greenhouse
it so far is about 8 foot tall
i had to stand up on a large picnic table to take this photo
we let the birds eat the seeds 
we save a few seeds for our plant sales and for planting in our garden and we give some away at the annual santa barbara seed swap each year


recently a borage popped up with white flowers
i guess a mutation occurred
i prefer the blue ones since thats my favorite color
the bees dont care


this is a bush nasturtium 
the leaves and flowers are edible


this is dryers chamomile
its used in the gardeners dyeing classes

we also let some of our vegetables like cilantro lettuce arugula some kale and broccoli to go to seed ie they will flower
it provides more food for the bees

when you walk up to our gardens right now you see all these beautiful different colors growing throughout our gardens
you will see lots of bees some hummingbirds and just now are seeing some butterflies

so if you garden
be sure and grow flowers in your garden
your bees will love it 

i know ours do

the organicgreen doctor