The Quite Contrary Garden

10/02/2024

Aromatic Aster

09/21/2024

Late summer/early fall at The Quite Contrary Prairie.
1. New England Aster
2. Showy Goldenrod
3. Rough Blazing Star
4. Aromatic Aster
5. Little Bluestem
6. Illinois Bundleflower
7. River Oats
8. Mountain Mint
9. Little Bluestem turning red and going to seed
10. Sideoats Grama

07/26/2024

Prairie update: she's thriving. It's less a prairie and more a jungle. Every book told me that it would be 3 years before things really get established but idk seems pretty established to me.

07/01/2024

06/23/2024

Mama 💖

06/21/2024

Summer Solstice

06/09/2024

I've been a bit quiet over here but I thought I'd give an update of what I've been up to. Some of you may remember my posts from last fall and winter where I was working to establish two native plant gardens, AKA The Quite Contrary Prairie and my backyard prairie. I'm surprised and happy to report that both prairies* are going gangbusters and I have thousands of native plants popping up all over. *By prairies I mean native plant gardens but it sounds way more dramatic to say I'm re-establishing a prairie than to say I put native plants in my yard. By native plants I mean plants that are indigenous to Missouri/Kansas and pre-date the introduction of European plants to North America.

I had spent several years learning about native plants and planning to transition part of my farming area into a native garden, and everything I read led me to temper my expectations for the first season. Native plants often have low germination rates or need several seasons to germinate and can be slow growers. I never expected to already have thousands of native plants! So I've been spending my time wandering around the prairies and seeing new plants emerge every day and feeling my heart explode with awe and appreciation.

Pictured: 1. The Quite Contrary Prairie 2 & 3. The patch of bee balm and river oats that started this native plant obsession 4. Gray headed coneflower in my backyard prairie. 5. Brown Eyed Susan 6. American Beautyberry 7. Partridge Pea (and a purple coneflower seedling) 8. Illinois Bundleflower 9. Purple poppy mallow

04/17/2024

01/12/2024

I've been waiting for our first real snow so I could plant my native seed mix. Most native plant seeds actually require a period of cold exposure in order to germinate in the spring. The snow not only provides the initial cold moisture the seeds need, but it makes it easier to see the seed distribution against the white backdrop and make sure I didn't miss any spots. At the end of my seeding exercise, I was rewarded with a nice sunset.