My straw bale garden has sagged, but I don’t think it’s all bad. I think it is on it’s way to becoming a pleasing, comfortable shape. Earlier, this winter, some bulbs were places on top of it, then covered with a layer of top soil. The soil ended up having more rocks in it than I remembered, but that hasn’t stopped the bulbs from sprouting.
A few days ago, I removed some of the rocks and added some amended soil to help smooth it out on top. Then, I planted several kinds of flower seeds and repositioned the soaker hose. It has been my experience that the flower seeds sprout when the temperatures are right. There’s no need to wait to plant them until the last frost date is past. Some of them, like the sweet peas and poppies, are sprouting as volunteers in other places around my garden already.
The addition of sweet peas, four o’clocks, and various colored California poppies should create color for many months. I planted some of the sweet peas and four o’clocks so that they should cascade down the sides. Time will tell if my vision was accurate. Right now, it doesn’t look like much to the passerby, but to me it is just waiting to burst into bouquet.
