Tag: Rudbeckia hirta

Celebrate the Summer solstice

Welcome Summer!

On the summer solstice which is today, the Northern Hemisphere receives more sunlight than on any other day of the year, but that doesn’t mean the first day of summer is also the hottest day of summer,…except here where I live.

Rudbeckia, Black-Eyed Susan, a California native

Rudbeckia, Black-Eyed Susan, a California native

Garden first, breakfast second

Going out to the garden first thing with a cup of coffee and some clippers can be a good way to start the day during our summer heat spells in the Sierra Foothills. I try to take advantage of the long days by getting out in the garden before I eat breakfast! Watering pots and clipping the spent blooms in the garden are much more pleasant then and it’s amazing how much you can do in half an hour or so. With no chores in mind, you can putter and groom, pinching a flower here and there before you begin your day. …

Checking on May projects

Notes on what I am really doing in the garden.

Mexican Primrose, with fleshy bulb-like root. This must be romoved completely or it will come back.

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.

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'

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.…