WINTER SOW THE SUMMER NIGHTS OF BEINGS TO COME

 

Winter Sow the Summer Nights of Beings to Come was a small online workshop with participants in and near Guelph, Canada in February of 2021. I hope this documentation encourages others to add start thinking about adding summer flowers to their gardens or balconies that will nourish nocturnal pollinators who often get forgotten among the more visible daytime pollinators.

This workshop came from the intersection of a few things I’m working on, and as I made plans to winter sow flower seeds for my own garden and research, I decided to invite a few others to join me.

There is something about this winter season, where so many beings are at rest, while we humans are in lock down, that resonated with a way of growing that is in tune with this strange season. Planting seeds and then just letting them be feels fitting for this time of doing less and being more still.

I feel like there is something to learn in this.

Climate change is like the pandemic in that it asks us to do less, to slow the movement of material and energy through our lives. It seems to me that this is something that I, and perhaps many of us, need to practice, particularly after lives lived in precarious work conditions and in a culture structured by consumption, which are always asking us to do more and more.

Not doing can be hard. It looks like nothing. It is often invisible. It is not easy to promote as an accomplishment. You can’t really be the author or hero of something not done. It can take time and repetition before not doing becomes apparent. And yet, I think not doing is a powerful and redemptive force.

One of the reasons I want to grow these flowers is because of my appreciation for nocturnal pollinators: the beings we rarely see because they occupy such different sensory worlds to our own, moving in darkness, often completely unregistered by us.

I think too about the light that spills out from our lives and the way it disorients nocturnal beings whose darkness we take away, not an intentional harm but an impact nonetheless. And I think about how in doing less we slow our wakes and move a bit more gently through the world leaving more space for others.

I’m not sure what this all amounts to, which is why I invite you into conversation with these questions. Of course there are many moments where energetic, decisive action is important. But between those moments, I’m beginning to think we need to practice how to be still, to rest, to listen, to be receptive.

I welcome your thoughts…

HOW TO WINTER SOW SEEDS  

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

• Seeds from cold hardy annuals or plants perennial to your growing zone
• Clear plastic containers, such as milk/juice jugs, salad clamshells, etc.
• Potting soil or seed starting mix
• Scissors and something to make holes in containers with
• Strong tape, like duct tape

  STEP 1: PREPARE THE CONTAINERS

• If your container is tall (like a milk jug, for example) cut it in half, leaving about 10cm attached, so it hinges open.
• Make holes in the bottom for drainage, and a few in the top for ventilation. You can use a drill, a nail and hammer (though test this first as some plastics are too brittle), or a hot tool such as a heated knife or soldering iron.
• Add 10-15cm of soil. Water it lightly so that it is damp.

  STEP 2: PLANT THE SEEDS

• Carefully place your seeds on top of 
the damp soil. Try to space them out to make it easier to separate the seedlings when transplanting them.
• If the seeds need to be covered, add the appropriate amount of soil on top.
• Very gently water again if needed.
• Make sure to label your containers.
• Close the container if it has a top. Or, if you have a cut container, tape it back together using duct tape or similar.
• Move the containers outside, ideally in the sun.
• Leave them be until spring.

 

 

Step 3: IN THE SPRING

 

• The seeds will know when its time to start sprouting. Some will start sooner than others.
• All you need to do is keep the soil moist and ensure the seedlings don’t overheat on very warm days by removing the lids.
• If there is danger of a cold night, put the lids back on.
• As the seedlings get taller, leave the tops of the containers off.
• Once the seedlings are about 10cm tall, you can transplant them into your garden or into a larger container.
• Remember some of the plants may take two years to produce flowers.

SEED RECOMMENDATIONS  

Plants that are good for other pollinators also tend to be good for nocturnal pollinators like moths. They are especially attracted to white and pale coloured flowers, as they are easier to see in the dark; very fragrant flowers, as this also helps in locating them; and flowers that open at night, who are do so to specifically attract nocturnal pollinators.

 

Some of the places I get my seeds are:

West Coast Seeds

Wild Flower Farm

The Ontario Seed Company

 

 

 

RECOMMENDED SPECIES  

SMOOTH PENSTEMON Penstemon digitalis Type: Perennial Colour: White Sun: Full Sun to Part Shade Water: Medium to Moist Bloom Timing: Early Summer Seed Planting Depth: 3mm Long stalks of white tubular flowers, lined with purple. Attracts pollinators with long tongues as well as hummingbirds.     PEARLY EVERLASTING Anaphalis margaritacea Type: Perennial Colour: White Sun: Full Sun Water: Dry to Medium Bloom Timing: Mid to Late Summer Seed Planting Depth: Seed needs light to germinate; do not cover. Clusters of pearly white, button like flowers. Also attracts butterflies.     DOTTED MINT Monarda punctata Type: Biennial Colour: Pale purple Sun: Full Sun Water: Dry to Medium Bloom Timing: Mid to Late Summer Seed Planting Depth: 3mm An aromatic and quite unusual looking plant with pale purple and yellow bracts that look like flowers but are actually leaves surrounding smaller, tubular flowers. An excellent source of nectar for many pollinators.     SPIDER FLOWER CLEOME Cleome hassleriana Type: Annual in Ontario Perennial in zones 8-10 Colour: Light Pink Sun: Full Sun Water: Dry to Medium Bloom Timing: Summer to Fall Seed Planting Depth: Seed needs light to germinate; do not cover. Large clusters of light pink flowers on the tops of long stems. Can grow as tall as 150cm. Native to southern South America.     EVENING PRIMROSE Oenothera biennis Type: Biennial Colour: Yellow Sun: Full Sun to Part Shade Water: Dry to Moist Bloom Timing: Mid to Late Summer Seed Planting Depth: 3mm Lemon scented yellow flowers that open at dusk and close the next morning. The plant will take two years to complete its life cycle, with leaves establishing the first year and flowers the next.     WHITE YARROW Achillea millefolium Type: Perennial Colour: White Sun: Full Sun Water: Dry to Medium Bloom Timing: All Summer Seed Planting Depth: 3mm A fragrant wildflower with flat clusters of tiny white flowers. It spreads via rhizomes underground so give it plenty of room when planting.     COMMON MILKWEED Asclepias syriaca Type: Perennial Colour: Pink-Purple Sun: Full Sun Water: Dry to Medium Bloom Timing: Early to Mid Summer Seed Planting Depth: 6mm Large balls of sweet-scented pinkish- purple flowers. Commonly associated with Monarch butterflies but beneficial for other pollinators as well. Can spread rapidly by rhizomes so plant it with plenty of space. Does very well on disturbed sites.     WILD QUININE Parthenium integrifolium Type: Perennial Colour: White Sun: Full Sun Water: Dry to Medium Bloom Timing: All Summer Seed Planting Depth: 6mm Clusters of bright white flowers bloom all summer long. Quite rare in the wild.     WHITE FALSE INDIGO Baptisia alba Type: Perennial Colour: White Sun: Full Sun to Part Shade Water: Medium to Moist Bloom Timing: Early Summer Seed Planting Depth: 6mm Dark grey stems with white pea- like flowers and velvety leaves. Both flowers and leaves ares beneficial to pollinators. Can be used to create blue dye.  

Thank you to everyone who plants seeds.   I also want to thank the Thread Residency program, part of the Towards Braiding Project funded by Musagetes, for supporting my work and this workshop, as well as the Culture and Animals Foundation for funding my early research on moths.