My winter garden may seem lacking in colour after the frost and snow has had it’s way, but I see so much promise in the seeds that hold the breath of spring inside them.

These tiny coriander seedpods will scatter through out my garden and grow into delicious green cilantro as soon as spring is here. I let them spread freely as they are easy to weed out in places where I don’t want them.

Calendula pods will seed themselves and spread there beautiful orange and yellow blossoms  – I infuse their petals in almond and coconut oil to make a body butter for the dry winter months

Lavender are some of the bees favourite flowers – they literally hum in early summer as I hang my laundry out right next to them. We have two top bar beehives on our property in the village and four more on a local organic farm. I use lavender to make eye pillows and a gorgeous body oil. They seed themselves in the garden and I pass them on to my neighbours and friends knowing that our bees will find them.

These faded ladies are stunning in the summer garden with their rich pink petals and bright green leaves. ‘Rosa Rugosa’ flower at least twice if we’re lucky, in the early summer and again in the fall. They do not spread by seed but can be propagated by clipping their suckers.

Oregano spreads itself freely and you have to keep an eye on it as it can be a bit invasive. It is however another favourite of the bees and delicious in the kitchen.

Milkweed have the most interesting pods and of course the monarch butterflies love them.

Pretty pretty cosmos – flower of the sun – all inside those tiny pods waiting for the spring

Echinacea – one of my treasured medicinal plants, and beautiful too.

 

A snow cradle: