Two Jacob’s ladder (Polemonium pulcherrimum) seedlings had filled their 4″ pots so I took a chance and planted them out in our Homegrown National Park. They are small, so I had to peel back quite a bit of bark mulch. They look tiny and sad out in that big garden, but I’m hopeful the wet spring will help get them off to a strong start.
I pricked out the Collomia grandiflora seedlings today and the Lupinus bicolor seedlings. There are about twenty Collomias and eight Lupinus, now all in 3-1/2″ round pots. The Collomias had really strong root systems. Here’s what they looked like before transplanting.
The checker mallow seedlings are looking pretty good, as well, but not ready for moving on yet.
Yesterday, I saw my first Western Swallowtail butterfly. It flew through the yard and around the garden in the parking strip before flying on. Today, I saw what I believe was a Red Admiral butterfly. In addition, I saw a bunch of metallic green sweat bees on my Santa Barbara daily plants in one of my gardens near the Homegrown National Park. These are rare sightings for me right now, but I know when this park project takes off, we’ll all be seeing more of these native beauties.