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  • From: "Lon J. Rombough" <lonrom@hevanet.com>
  • To: Gardenwriters on Gardening <gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [gwl-g] Flowers in a meadow?
  • Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2004 09:54:31 -0700

Title: Re: [gwl-g] Flowers in a meadow?
For those who went to the GWA meeting last year, there were the preserved and re-created prairies that we saw.  Those were composed more of flowering plants than grasses.  In that context, prairie might be a better definition than meadow.  
   As to the effect of mowing versus burning, I can only relate that here in Oregon, it is possible to burn off land that hasn't been excessively cropped and get native plants that haven't been seen in many years.  I was told that some people are doing that and harvesting the seed to get native wildflower seed to re-plant areas they way they were before settlers came.
   And mowing isn't the same as burning.  Mowing leaves thatch and other material that covers the soil, for one thing.  For another, some plants need the fire to stimulate germination.  Ever notice that fireweed doesn't show up much until after a fire has cleared the ground?  I had a volunteer fireweed come up in a  bed one time and though it went to seed profusely, I never saw another plant of it in the area.  Seedlings couldn't come up through the thatch of dead material on the ground.
   -Lon Rombough

From: Larry Maxcy <larrymaxcy@earthlink.net>
Reply-To: larrymaxcy@earthlink.net, gardenwriters-on-gardening <gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org>
Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2004 09:40:51 -0700
To: gwl-g@lists.ibiblio.org
Subject: [gwl-g] Flowers in a meadow?


There has always been something that has bothered me about the concept
of a meadow full of flowers. So I did the easy thing, and looked up the
word "meadow." It means a grassland, usually a level grassland. It comes
from the Old English word meaning "to mow." So, a meadow full of flowers
isn't a meadow at all. I guess it can be best described as a concept,
and judging by my one attempt, a failed concept. In the Siskiyou
mountains of Oregon, the only thing that came up the second year was
California poppies.

Larry Maxcy

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