Gardening for Good in October!

Gardening for Good: from the Connecticut River to Long Island Sound, connecting to nature, one yard at a time

Judy Preston  judy.preston@uconn.edu

 Below: Gray Goldenrod Seedlings

  

Growing Native Flowers for Next Spring

 It's a perfect time of the year to be thinking about ways to shore up our reserves in anticipation of heading into the dark, cold winter months ahead with COVID ongoing (are you nervous? I know I am). Jim Sirch, the Education Coordinator for the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History in New Haven, has devised a brilliant way to propagate native perennials – it’s simple, inexpensive, and a great way to engage people of all ages.

 Most of the seeds from our native wildflowers need to be stratified – exposed to cold for a period of time – in order to germinate. If you have an empty, clean plastic milk jug, some soil, and are game to collect some local seeds, Jim will lead us through a simple way to set the stage for tiny seedlings to emerge in the early spring – just when you need to see green!

 And native flowers are so important to providing food for our native pollinating insects, that in turn feed the wildlife that we’re trying to provide more habitat for in our yards.

 Join us for the “how-to” of “Milk-jug Wildflower Propagation” on Gardening for Good. Here’s the link to step by step instructions: https://sustainability.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Milk Jug Wildflower Propagation.pdf