Wild & Weedy Wednesday: Not quite weeds

I'm joining Cathy of Words and Herbs once again this week to share four plants that aren't classified as weeds (at least in California) but behave a bit like them.  I've found the first three of the four somewhat difficult to manage as they self-seed wherever they like and can be difficult to remove when they settle where they're not wanted.

The first one is known by the colorful common name of Hairy Canary Clover.  Despite its common name it's native to Portugal, not the Canary Islands.  It's now classified as Lotus hirsutus but it's appeared in my blog posts on earlier occasions under its former classification, Dorycnium hirsutum.  Its foliage is soft and ever-gray.

As I recall, I originally planted it from a 4-inch pot in one of the driest areas of my garden.  It's since spread widely within that area and, although it prefers to seed itself, I've managed to transfer seedlings into my front garden as well.

As you can see in this closeup, the flowers look very much like clover.  The bees love it too.

One transplant in my front garden overtook its space and grew into the driveway following this year's heavier rain.  It doesn't look so good after being cut back (right) and I'm tempted to pull up the mother plant and let the fallen seeds replant the area.

It produces gobs of seeds

It likes to plant itself in gravel but its takes some effort to get those seedlings out.  The seedlings take their time to get established if they're moved.

It's an attractive groundcover and lovely in and out of flower, although as the photo of the plant adjacent to our driveway shows, it doesn't look great immediately after it's been pruned back hard.

Gaura lindheimeri is another plant that seeds itself wherever it likes but it's not as prolific as the Lotus.  I like its airy look but I wish it was more accommodating about its placement as it's seedlings don't transplant well.

In my garden it looks best early in the season as it's just taking off.  This photo was taken in mid-June.

These plants seeded themselves right in the middle of a path.  I haven't removed them yet but that's in my near-term plans.

 

I sowed seeds of the third wildflower, Daucus carota 'Dara', and then promptly forgot about it until a large plant appeared.  Before it flowered for the first time back in 2019, I was afraid that poison hemlock, a plant it resembles, had sprung up in my garden.  This one is regarded as a noxious weed in Washington state but not in California.  It's known for planting itself in disturbed places and is said to compete with native grasses and impact agricultural sites.  It's very pretty but it has a deep taproot so it isn't always easy to remove.  It also self-seeds broadly.

The plants shown here have self-sown close to its original position but seedlings have also appeared elsewhere in my back garden

It's a useful cut flower; however, it's best cut before it's fully developed as it drops seed once it's in full bloom

The last plant is native to California and, like the Daucus, it spreads in disturbed areas and is reportedly often found in ditches and along roadsides, although I can't say I'd ever seen it before I purchased an unlabeled plant from my neighborhood garden center on a whim.  I later learned that it's a form of gumweed, Grindelia (probably Grindelia camporum).  It's semi-deciduous in summer.  After it finished blooming last year I cut it down nearly to the ground.  It formed a nice compact clump this year - until it suddenly shot up over three feet in height and flopped all over its neighbors.

Loaded with buds, it produced its first bright yellow daisy flowers last week

It was planted in a spot way too small for its current size and flopped over all its neighbors

It had to go and I made relatively quick work of its removal.  The surrounding plants looked much better afterwards.

I cut a few stems and put them in a small vase.  The only criticism of the plant I have is that every part of it - the flowers, the leaves and the stems - are super-sticky.

The Grindelia didn't belong where I originally placed it when I had no idea what I was dealing with.  It needs a larger, open space where it can spread out.  If I find such a spot elsewhere, I may plant it again as it's said to be attractive to pollinators.

That's this week's weed report.  To find more wildflowers, visit Cathy at Words and Herbs.

All material © 2012-2023 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party

Desert Super Bloom (& Wednesday Vignette)

Approximately once every 10 years, the deserts of Southern California experience a "super bloom" when they receive enough rain during the winter months to carpet the normally hard-baked ground in flowers.  Last week I joined 2 friends for the long drive to Borrego Springs in northeast San Diego County to catch this year's show before soaring temperatures bring the curtain down.  The trip south on the freeways was made easier by my friends' express pass but, when we turned further inland, it was far slower going on a one-lane highway, which slowed still more as we wended our way along the final leg of our journey along a steep, winding road into the 600,000 acre desert state park.

Because the drive was so long, we didn't have hours to hike trails into the desert so we caught only a small portion of the wildflowers.  A more thorough exploration probably would have required at least an overnight stay.  Temperatures in the mid-to-upper 90sF also limited our exploration but here are some of the highlights:

Scene near the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park's Visitor Center

The majority of the blue, white and yellow flowers in this area were clustered around cactus or, as here, skeletons of cactus

My guess is that the cactus skeleton shown above was what was left of what I think is a Teddy Bear Cholla (Cylindropuntia bigelovii), which, both dead and alive, were plentiful in the area

If I've identified the yellow, white and blue blooms correctly they are Desert Dandelion (Malacothrix glabrata), Desert Pincushion (Chaenactis steviodes) and Blue Phacelia (Phacelia distans)

This shrub, which I think is Creosote Bush (Larrea tridentata), was also prevalent

As were these shrubs, Brittlebush (Encelia farinosa) and what I tentatively identified as Desert Lavender (Hyptis emoryi)

Ocotillo (Fouquieria splendens) could also be seen everywhere but they appeared to be just starting their bloom cycle

Concerned about how much longer our trip home might take on SoCal's famously congested freeways if we didn't get a lead on rush-hour traffic, we had to turn around and head home all too soon.   We tried to capture snaps of the California poppies and lupines as we whizzed along the highway but there was nowhere to pull over.

There were lupines here and there in Borrego Springs but nothing like this mass of purple we saw from the highway

Masses of orange poppies could also be seen as we whizzed along Highway 15

Near Lake Elsinore in western Riverside County, we finally pulled off the road to take another flurry of photos of California's official state flower in all its glory.

Massive traffic jams were reported in this area over the past 2 weeks and, even in late afternoon mid-week, it was hard to find a spot to park.  I'm offering this photo of the area near Walker's Canyon as my Wednesday Vignette - for more photo vignettes, visit Anna at Flutter & Hum.

Once again, we didn't have the time to hike far but we got our fix of California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) anyway

If you're interested some of the wildflowers we missed, additional photos can be found here and here.


All material © 2012-2017 by Kris Peterson for Late to the Garden Party