“What’s blooming Wednesday” In the Sierra foothills, after the blues, of Lupine, Vetch and Blue dicks, the early Spring wildflowers: The blues, come the yellows and whites of April. Have you seen these? All over the roadsides now you’ll see blooming Elderberry bushes, with lemony white umbrel (Umbrella) shaped flowers. have you wondered about them?…
The natural meadow in the second year By that, I mean, this is the second year that I have weeded but not planted here. I’ve planted my 5 year old garden in irrigation zones. The area around the house gets the most water and has the most ‘non-native, but Mediterranean plants.’ We’re on a slope…
Weeding the natural meadow I work quietly, allowing my thoughts to fade away into just being. I especially don’t think about the enormity of my goal, and the only urgency I feel is the one. The weeds are going to seed. The last three days I have spent in the natural meadow two levels below…
Notes on what I am really doing in the garden.
Mexican Primrose, with fleshy bulb-like root.
Mexican Primrose eradication in front beds
Last Fall I decided to sift the soil of the front beds after the first quick weeding did nothing to get rid of this stubborn pretty. It is pretty at one stage, but dries to tall sticks throughout the planting beds. So, there I was taking bit by bit, each area and making sure.
Mexican Primrose coming through root ball of killed plant. Yellowish fleshy root shows at the bottom.
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I got all the roots, I think, with a sharp trowel. All the plants affected were dug up, shaken out, forbidden roots found and placed in nursery pots in the shade. The roots have a thick, fleshy root, which is yellowish, rather than red like the stems of this plant. This must be romoved completely or it will come back.
Fast forward to last month when a second thorough check was done and more stragglers found and dug.
Germander, Teucrium chamaedrys 'Prostratum'
Last weekend, another month later, I put all the plants back, added a few monkey flowers and sages to go with the existing conifers, Germander, Teucrium chamaedrys ‘Prostratum’, (below), Thyme and Snow-in-summer, Cerastrum tomentosum. These last three are some of the most useful Mediteranneans for a California garden.…
Pretty Face, Triteleia ixioides Sunny starry yellow, Pretty Face is sometimes called Golden brodiaea or Golden Stars, and is native to California, appearing only slightly beyond the borders, according to CalFlora. This variety, found on our place and all through the Oakhurst Yosemite area, may be Triteleia ixioides ssp. scabra or Foothill Pretty Face. This pretty bulb first shows up…
My idea of gardening is to discover something wild in my wood and weed around it with the utmost care until it has a chance to grow and spread. – Margaret Bourke-White Covered with the greenest and freshest grass, the open woodland is where the earliest wildflowers of Spring spread their wealth of ephemeral loveliness.…
Get down… Get down low…and see the mysteries that may be in your mulch and layer of leaf liter under the trees.. The ground is wet and I’m careful where I walk, so not to, literally, slip on the slopes. The mountain above my garden commands attention, frosted in snow or shrouded with cloud, ever…
