Keep On Blooming!

Every year we do as much as we are able to extend the bloom season of flowers on the farm.  We make it a goal to provide food for pollinators and other beneficial critters for as much as the season as we are able. 

Why?

Well, it seems obvious to us that the surrounding fields of corn and soybean are less than ideal for most of these critters.  There is minimal diversity in habitat in those fields and a very limited bloom season (therefore limited food resources).  When you add the application of chemicals, these fields become even less attractive for diverse life.

We figure if we create attractive habitat on our farm for as much as the season as possible, there will be no reason for our friends to leave us and travel into dangerous territory.

Late March to April
We do have a very healthy dandelion population each year at the Genuine Faux Farm and we are perfectly happy to let them bloom.  I realize there are people out there who are horrified by this.  But, in the grand scheme of things, dandelions are actually not a big deal from a weed perspective.  They have deep roots that pull up micronutrients for other plants to use and the bloom period attracts all sorts of pollinators at a point in time when those who have fruit trees would really like to have them around.

Every Fall about this time, we play with the idea of getting large numbers of crocus and daffodil bulbs with the intent of 'naturalizing' an area with them.  Why don't we?  Well, our plate is usually too full and we just can't find the time to do it.  And, we're not always certain that the bulbs we would be getting would be clear of neonicotinoid insecticides and we just don't always have the time to research that issue.

When you add to that the possibility that those flowers may not be the most wonderful for our pollinators, we typically fall back on our dandelions and our fruit bearing trees and shrubs. 

We are pretty happy to have a number of spring anemone and pasque flowers on the farm.  And we recognize that non-showy flowers are actually very good for pollinators.  For example, Crazy Maurice, the Weeping Willow has numerous small flowers that pollinators are enjoying.

May busts out all over
The month of May heralds a nice mix of flowers, many of which show up in some of our intentionally 'wild' places.  For example, we have some yellow and purple Siberian iris that like to show off.  We've let them spread as they would like and we're happy that they seem to think our place is an ok habitat for them.

And, of course, the German bearded iris start to show on our farm in May.  I have to admit that they seem to take center stage with our picture taking, much to the chagrin of so many flowers appearing on the landscape.  In fact, the iris don't usually show much attractive qualities for the critters we desperately want. 

Clover typically gets going in May and you'll often see painted daisies, anemone, creeping phlox, peonies and other neat flowers showing off.  In fact, we start getting so many flowers that Tammy and I have a difficult time differentiating between May and ...

June - bugs and blooms?
June on the farm is unfortunately known for the bugs that seem to like to snack on farmers at GFF.  The winds are typically not as strong - or at least not as consistent, so the gnats and other biting insects can get pretty thick.  It makes work difficult and it makes enjoying the flowers challenging.  And yet, we have to take it as a sign that there is some health in our ecosystem if there are insects that think we are food (I suppose).

The thing is - we're usually so bugged by the bugs that we don't have time to investigate the bugs we want.  And that bugs me.  You're welcome.

We've got perennial geraniums covered in blooms early in the month and by the end of the month many of our annuals are starting to consider showing what they can do.  Though, it's really the next couple of months that we usually have more annual flower activity.

Clover really start their summer bloom period in June and we do take great pride in having a lot of clover on the farm.  And the great thing about clover is that it will bloom most of the growing season as long as there is enough moisture.  You might find clover flowers drying off in drought conditions.

July is full of smiles
Our big flower highlights tend to be day lilies in July and into early August.  Just as we have noticed with the German bearded iris, these flowers do not tend to be the focus of insect activity.  We suspect that the highly hybridized plants have been selected for so long with consideration for how attractive the flowers are to humans that much of the attractiveness to insect species has been bred out of them. 

And this is why we continue to promote clover on the farm and why we're happy to have ditches with a bunch of ditch daylilies.  Daisies and coneflowers start to appear and many of our perennial spices are begging to show more flowers in late July.

The annual flowers start to carry a heavier load for feeding the pollinators on our far in July too.  The sunflowers on our farm are amazingly good for a fairly wide range of beneficial insects.  Zinnias, marigolds, borage and phacelia do a fine job for us.  And, if we get a nice batch of buckwheat in the ground, we can have an amazing bloom the bees will love.

August sunshine
It feels to me like yellow is the color for August flowers.  The helianthus and heliopsis, along with rudebekia can really put on a show.  And, they're all attractive to our insect workers.  The zinnia, marigold, four o'clock, salvia and other flowers continue to flower and the hyssop, oregano and thyme are often covered with smaller bees and bumblebees.

Then there is the under-rated goldenrod.  Many people still mistakenly believe goldenrod is one of the wildflowers responsible for high pollen counts that make people with allergies miserable as August progresses.  However, goldenrod pollen is too heavy to really cause the issue.  You can blame most of your sneezing on ragweed in Iowa.  Pollen for those plants is quite able to be airborn and travel quite some distance.

September - Yellow turning to blues and whites
There are still some clover blooming in September, though it has a good deal to do with late Summer rain amounts.  This year (2022) we are seeing most of the goldenrod bloom and some excellent helianthus and sneezeweed around our farm.  But, perennials such as sage and thousand flower aster typically begin to show off in September.  Other than the tail end of hibiscus blooming season, it feels like plants that peak at this time focus on LOTS of smaller flowers.

The hummingbirds we often see on the farm check out the hostas, zinnias, phlox and Rob's hat.  The butterflies can be seen in the marigolds, zinnias, clover and other flowers. 

But, perhaps the hardest part for us to remember this season is that many of our insect friends simply need a little shelter.  If the Fall is dry, plants that aren't irrigated are growing very little.  That means each time we do some 'clean up' around the farm, the plants will not fill in nearly so quickly.  In short, that means we sometimes need to consider NOT cleaning something up so there are still good places for our katydids and coneheads to hang out, places for our ladybugs to be and our frogs to stay out of the sun when they want to.  

The good news?  2022 has been a good bloom year on our farm.  We see evidence that many of the beneficial critters are thriving as much as we can expect given the limitations of our surroundings.  And as we travel through September, we're going to keep planning ways to make the next year even better. 

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This post was originally shared on the blog Sept 17, 2017 and is this week's Throwback post.  It has been significantly edited to update it, photos have been added and various typos corrected.

Have a good day all!