Bee Gardens: an experiment

Besides the "shade meadow" I seeded another meadow strip at Petersen Farm last fall that contained only native, drought-tolerant flowers and grasses.  All the flowers are known to be "bee-favorites" so I am hoping to get some serious bee forage established.

Unfortunately natives grow quite slowly and many can be difficult to establish from seed, even if properly cold stratified with a fall seeding. Watching these native species emerge has been many tiny, harrowing journeys, and most have not made it for whatever reason... I still hope to get a few plants to survive this year.

A few of the current survivors (as of yesterday):

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Wish us luck!