Hi I'm interested in a number of your seeds - coreopsis, yarrow, hollyhocks...have a number of commercial seeds not listed on my trade list...contact me and we can see if I have something you would like, thanks. Here is a link that might be useful: Trade List squirrelspur

Adding comfrey (just a couple), elecampane and curly germander to my "have list". I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather holds for a couple more days so I can get more dug. I have red daylilies, wisteria and golden hops if I can only get out there to dig them!

I was relecting recently upon my 3 year old and 2 year old prairies. Like you, I was impatient starting and regret not having done more weed preparation. In year 2, I accidentally allowed some weeds to go to seed, which is giving me some problems in my 3 year old patch now. Early this spring, I sprayed my prairie areas with Round-up (sorry, working 60-70 hours per week makes round-up a necessary evil) and had positive results reducing the early spring weed count. It did have a marginal impact upon several of the early risers like nodding onion and downy phlox. Although I seeded grasses from the beginning, I wish I had seeded more. Overall, I think I under-estimated how much seed was required to achieve a decent balance. I could use more bluestem, dropseed and indian grasses throughout. Early surprises this year included second year prarie violet blooming, last year's second year pale spiked lobelia was a pleasant surprise and finally the wild white indigo growing large enough for identification. Rod

If the frog fruit starts up in a bed, I just use that as mother plant and constantly cut off pieces and stick them in the ground elsewhere since it will root with little to no help. Anywhere else it's free to wander. We just mow it where it's in the lawn. But I'm a lot more about gardening for wildlife and using natives than anything else. We have a native grass lawn and don't irrigate it, so it's not a showplace to start with ;-)