We’ve loved curating the Bloom exhibit each year, celebrating spring by growing flowers in the library. This year, we hope to spread blossoms throughout Brunswick and Harpswell.
We are giving away a seed sampler so you can have your own Bloom at home! The packet contains seeds for four different native flowering plants that can be planted right now. Bloom @ Home packets will be available starting Thursday April 29, while supplies last. The seed samplers are sponsored by Cornerstones of Science.
Packets will be available during Curbside hours. Please call 725-5242 (choose option 1) to tell us you’re at the library and would like a kit. We’ll bring one out for you.
The seeds in this packet are from the Wild Seed Project. Their vision is “that people create and repopulate landscapes to be abundant with native plants that safeguard wildlife habitat, support biodiversity, and mitigate the effects of climate change.”
To learn more about the Wild Seed Project, please visit https://wildseedproject.net/.
Bluebell-of-Scotland/Scotch Bellflower (Campanula rotundifolia)
Sun.
Rocky coastlines, cliffs, shores and dry meadows.
Maine native.
Small, blue, nodding bell-shaped flowers on wispy stems bloom in early to midsummer, sometimes with repeated blooms. Attractive low clump of round basal leaves. Deer-resistant foliage. 4-18″
Pairs well with butterfly milkweed and sundial lupine. Germination codes: A, C
Smooth Blue Aster (Symphyotrichum laeve)
Sun/part shade.
Dry open woods and fields. Disturbed areas and roadsides.
Maine native.
Loose clumps of smooth light green foliage is covered with blue-petaled daisy-like flowers with bright yellow centers; blooms from late summer to fall. Flowers attract many pollinating insects, and birds relish the seeds. 18″-3′
Pairs well with butterfly milkweed and foxglove beardtongue. Germination code: A
Black-eyed-Susans/Black-eyed Coneflower (Rudbeckia hirta v. pulcherrima)
Sun.
Grows wild in Maine naturalized from west of New England.
A bright golden yellow meadow coneflower with a black center; blooms from midsummer to fall. It attracts numerous butterflies when in bloom and birds to its seed heads. Thrives in poor, dry soils. Will bloom the first year from seed; easy to establish in waste areas. A good urban plant for sunny dry locations. 2′
Pairs well with smooth blue aster and butterfly milkweed. Germination code: A
Sundial Lupine (Lupinus perennis)
Sun/part shade.
Dry sandy soils of pine barrens, woodlands, meadows and roadsides.
A wide ranging species of eastern North America, though rare in New England and now extinct in Maine. New Hampshire still has a wild population of this lupine.
This is the true native lupine. In June, lavender blue flower spires with charming radiating leaves make this an excellent landscape and garden plant for hot, dry well-drained infertile soil (will not grow in moist soil). Like most legumes, this plant improves soil fertility through nitrogen fixation. Deer-proof. 12-18″ Germination code: A, G
Germination Codes
A Seeds — Seeds marked with germination code A are among the easiest to sow, and this code indicates their temperature requirements. They do not need a winter cold period to germinate. Sow outdoors in fall or early spring.
C Seeds — Seeds marked with germination code C need light to germinate. Sow them on top of the soil’s surface, and leave uncovered. This germination code will appear in addition to other codes that relate to temperature requirements.
G Seeds — These are large seeds that should be soaked overnight in water before sowing.
The packet also contains information on birds that are attracted to each of the flowers.
Happy Planting!
Pamela & Diana
