Seed collection has begun!

It's that time of the year!

Thursday, I harvested my first batch of Gomphrena seedheads and spent a lot of the day sorting them. I also cut my dwarf Teddy Bear sunflower heads and sorted them.

Today, I collected more Malva, Callirhoe, and pruned off my first set of Monarda seedheads. I don't have very good luck collecting the beebalm, but I try every year, anyway.

Hopefully, I'll have some more hosta seed to share, shortly, too! I just noticed some of my seed-grown 'mutts' beginning to bloom. They're so rewarding to grow from seed and it's amazing what variety you can get from plants prized simply for their leaves.

Pictures and future additions

I was cruising around in the yard the other day and took some pictures, including some pictures of things I hope to add to my etsy store in the future. I uploaded the pictures to my flickr account after I took them, but I shall present them to you now. :)

Here is Gomphrena 'Strawberry Fields'. It's a globe Amaranth, and a native of the south Texas and Mexico. What I love about it is that it's easy to grow, drought tolerant, and absolutely stunning. It gets about a height of about 20-24". I will be offering seeds, hopefully, in a few weeks.

Another thing I took a picture of is my frog cave. I made this as a 'what can you do with this?' from my guy out of hypertufa. I have it sitting in the back of one of my flower beds, with the inside dug out and filled with a comfy bed of moist sand. Frogs (and the occasional garden snake!) are often holed up in it in the hottest summer months. I'll probably make a few of these and post them on etsy to see if anyone is interested in a little garden whimsy.