We didn’t exactly “wait” through the winter. Nancy tromped a snow path at Christmas and I embellished it in January and early February using my trusty seven-circuit map.
Preparing seeds from various prairie sources.
Rich ordered prairie and edge seeds to complement the seed we had gathered in the fall. Sue and John H. sent us labeled packets of seeds from their wonderful prairie in Oconomowoc. When the seed came in, we mixed it with dampened sand and scattered the seed in areas where I had not yet placed lilies, hostas and other plants, and around the edges. Sue and John’s seeds found special homes along the path edges.
Winters cold and the rough sand naturally scarify seeds.
Since I knew the paths better, I took small buckets of seed-sand mixture out and and scattered them. We’ll see how well I did – probably next year when plants start to show themselves. Meanwhile, a friend offered us glacial boulders to add to the yard.
Glacial boulders come to rest
So, one cold winter day, Mike arrived with his truck and unloaded the rocks. One near the front door, one honkin’ one that has to be moved to be diagonally opposite (Rolling rockers welcome!), and a “mini-honkin'” that we rolled onto the main path as a welcome and focal point. Please stop, gather yourself and then welcome to our labyrinth. Now we really have to wait for snow melt, ground to firm up as frost goes out, days to lengthen and warm the soil, and “plants dreaming deep” to revive.
1080 Labyrinth 