The Wildflower Walkway

7/25/2023

Matt created an amazing new space on the south end of our property.  I dubbed it The Wildflower Walkway because a) it is apt and b) I liked the alliteration.  I mentioned it in my solstice-to-equinox photos, but thought it really deserved a standalone post.

A little backstory:  In the fall of 2020, I successfully organized my neighbors to stop a development project that was going to negatively impact the neighborhood.  All the details are here.  One of the outcomes of that whole thing was that our street got a sidewalk built on one side.  It is a route to school and that should have happened long, long ago...but better late than never.  

7/4/2023

The soil disturbed by the construction led to the area around the sidewalk becoming a weed patch.  The Wildflower Walkway was Matt's solution to that problem.  It was the worst part of our front yard to start with...so this was an opportunity for improvement!

6/21/2023

Matt bought a half dozen different wildflower blends from our local greenhouse/garden supplier and scattered them liberally.  There were mixes for attracting butterflies, for bees, and for pollinators more generally.  There were sunflowers for the birds and the squirrels. We planted some surplus cabbage seedlings for the rabbits.

Matt kept the weeds at bay.  I made a small rock border to one side and a string fence on the other to keep the teeny sprouts from getting trampled while they were so little.  We had to discourage Black Bunny and his friends from eating all the sunflower sprouts a handful of times.  And the flower patch grew and grew and got cooler and cooler!  

7/11/2023

More varieties blossomed.  More colors appeared.  For much of the spring it seemed there was something new every day.  Matt and I would marvel over each new arrival.  It was so cool.

7/23/2023

It delighted us to see families stopping to literally smell the flowers on their walk to school.  I overheard some neighbor children saying, "Mom said we have to stop at the flowers and wait for her," making it a landmark for our street.  On several occasions, neighbors out for an evening stroll stopped and chatted Matt up when he was out there weeding.  As we sat on the porch, dogwalkers would call out to us about the beautiful, new flower array.  

10/10/2023

The Wildflower Walkway was enthusiastically well received by all.  It would have been worthwhile even if Matt and I were the only ones to enjoy it so much.  The fact that it brought joy and pleasure to countless others made it all the more gratifying.

6/21/2023

The bees, birds, bunnies, and squirrels also appreciated Matt's efforts.  I watched Bob-the-Bobtail-Squirrel ransacking the sunflowers last month.  He'd take the seedy flower heads and eat it like corn on the cob.

I am sad to report that Bob-the-Bobtail-Squirrel (pictured here on the front fence) was killed by a car near the end of September.  He was around our place for at least three years.  I moved his remains from the road to the flower bed.  It was the least I could do.  8/29/2023

I am not savvy enough with flowers to be able to name them all, but I know we had Flax, Zinnia, Cosmos, Sunflower, Forget-Me-Not, Lavender, Borage, Salvia, Coneflower, Calendula, Dill, Echinacea, and Brown-Eyed Susan.  

7/25/2023

The blossoms are starting to wind down as the nights grow longer and cooler, but I'm impressed with the Wildflower Walkway's sticking power.  Matt now envisions letting the flowers expand over the whole front yard.  I support this vision!  That would make the front of our property as cool as the back garden is! 

10/3/2023