My little meadow garden has been waking up the past few weeks. Milkweeds aren't up yet and False Indigo has just poked out but Coreopsis, Spiderwort, assorted Rudbeckia and Asters have all started growing. There are plenty of weeds in there too such as Dandelion, Creeping Charlie, and a rather aggressive spreading grass. I find these weeds useful because they mark where I haven't planted natives yet, and it's usually easy enough to replace the unwanted plant with a plug or something that I bought.
Stiff Coreopsis,
C. palimata, is particularly abundant thanks to underground rhizomes. It's a Midwest native that's been spreading steadily. They tend to flower before all the Black-Eyed Susan's do which is handy but they're never as dense or showy looking. What I find neat is that I started with maybe 10 plants and they've spread pretty well on their own. Black-Eyed Susans have seeded prolifically too, despite the slight amount of wood mulch. Neither is pushing out the unwanted weeds yet but they're approaching the point where I may have to start thinning them out or transplanting.
