Bombs away: Seed mixes grow local

San Francisco – Retailer Anthropologie has jumped on the urban gardening wheelbarrow with a new range of Seed Bombs available for sale in its US stores. The bee-, butterfly- and bird-friendly wildflower mixtures are local to the regions in which they are sold: West Coast consumers may find cornflower and Sweet William Seed Bombs, their East Coast compadres may grow black-eyed Susans and gloriosa daisies, and Midwesterners could soon see the flowering of forget-me-nots, wild larkspur and rose mallow.

The muslin-bagged seed-and-soil pods, designed by Cincinnati studio VisuaLingual, make gardening accessible to even the least green-fingered of customers: because the seeds are enrobed in soil, they don’t even need to be planted. All budding gardeners have to do is toss them onto the lawn and wait to appreciate the green, green grass – and jolly wildflowers – of home.

From vertical gardens to rooftop farms and even take-it-with-you planters, we are witnessing ever-inventive grassroots efforts to green the city.