Weather: Humidity remained normal, even though there were little to no low-level moisture in the atmosphere. That means water was being sucked out of the earth and plants.
The cooler temperatures forced me to begin watering when it got warm enough to not harm the hoses; in the summer I start as soon as I can walk about safely. The annuals and recently planted shrubs haven’t like getting watered less frequently when they are fighting transpiration.
Last useful rain: 9/23. Week’s low: 33 degrees F. Week’s high: 83 degrees F in the shade.
What’s blooming in the area: Hybrid roses, trumpet creeper, silver lace vine, Russian sage, bird of paradise, roses of Sharon, datura, chrysanthemums, Maximilian sunflowers.
This past week someone had some cosmos come into bloom, and another had some Heavenly Blue morning glories. I have a few short zinnias with very small flowers. This is at least a month later than usual.
What’s blooming beyond the walls and fences: Bindweed, green leaf five eyes, alfalfa, white sweet clover, goat’s head, yellow evening primrose, pigweed, Russian thistle, broom snakeweed, native sunflowers, áñil del muerto, Tahoka daisies, golden hairy, heath and purple asters, quack grass
What’s blooming in my yard: Betty Prior and miniature roses, yellow potentilla, calamintha, lead plant, winecup mallow, large-flowered soapwort, David phlox, perennial four o’clock, Silver King artemesia, African marigolds, chocolate flower, plains coreopsis, anthemis, bachelor buttons, zinnias, blanket flowers
Bedding Plants: One snapdragon, two nicotiana
What’s Coming Up: Golden spur columbine, cheat grass
Tasks: Last week when I put some bags of peaches in the trash, I slit them to drain the water that had separated from the pulp. This week that water had evaporated and the bags were slightly lighter. The smell still was sour.
Animal sightings: Chickadees, geckos, monarch butterflies, bumble and small bees, heard crickets, grasshoppers, hornets, small ants
I’m ambivalent about woodpeckers. On the one hand, they clean out insects in wood and help solve a problem. I’m convinced the reason I had fewer hornets this year was one was banging away on the eaves of the house last year. However, their mere presence signals a problem exists. The one I’ve been hearing recently has been in the cottonwood. The one time I saw the small black-and-white bird, it was on dead wood, but if it’s in the leaves on live wood it wouldn’t be seen.
When the neighbor’s cat patrolled the yard, the mice stayed away. Now that they’re, wisely, keeping the cat in the house, the mice are back. There seems to be no getting rid of them completely.
Weekly update: People are fascinated by the fact some plants produce chemicals that inhibit the growth of others and give them more control of their territory. I think black walnuts are the best known.
The interest is partly an extension of developments in biology that followed the development of more sophisticated microscopes. Biochemistry has explained some diseases, and researchers are continuing to find new ways it affects our brains. It has become the single key to everything.
Others are interested in chemicals as weapons. As soon as botanists discovered the plant hormone that controlled senescence, the military turned it into Agent Orange. It became the basis for herbicides like Round-Up, which are used as expensive, labor efficient ways to handle weeds.
Note the constant interest we have in finding the easiest, cheapest way to do things. Our obsession with productivity blinds us to recognizing the many ways plants have of controlling their environment.
One of my chrysanthemums, the yellow Mary Stoker, remained relatively short all summer. Then, when it came time to bloom, the stems grew longer. They got both taller and reached wider until it became a ball.
The result was the water, which came from a spraying hose, was diverted to it at the expense of all the neighboring ones. They are now suffering.
A week of so ago I cleared part of a bed where golden spur columbine ranges to make room for some iris. This week I returned to the area to plant some lilies, and found some columbine had come back.
The seeds must be tiny. I don’t think I’ve ever seen any. They fall thickly on the ground, especially around other plants and the brick walks. When I trowel around to uproot the young seedlings, all I do is remove competition so ungerminated seeds have an easier time.
They crowd out other plants with their leaves on arching stems that divert water like Mary Stoker. Worse, the roots go down lower that those of neighboring plants, then expand into tubers that monopolize water in their areas. It’s impossible to do more than break off the tops without destroying the unsuspecting neighbor.
Notes on photographs: All taken 26 September 2019.
1. Mary Stoker chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum rubellum). Blanket flowers (Gaillardia aristata) can just be seen behind it.
2. Golden spur columbine seedlings (Aquilegia chrysantha) surround the stem of a lily.
3. Mass of golden spur columbine seedlings that came up under a Kelway anthemis (Anthemis tinctoria).
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