Earlier this spring I came across this yard in Lawrence.
A closer look reveals a carpet of Spring Beauties: Claytonia virginica What a cool lawn. This is my kind of lawn weed.
Ever since I saw a similar photo in Kansas Wildflowers by William Chase Stevens of Spring Beauties colonizing a lawn in Pleasanton, I’ve wondered about planting my own seed to create a similar lawn. Now I have to try. To that end I have been trying to collect seed–they are very small and they shatter easily. I found that each flower can produce several seeds and each plant can produce dozens. I tried to collect a few days too early, decided to wait and now I think I’m too late but I won’t be next year.