Visitors 32
Modified 28-Feb-24
Created 24-Jun-21
54 photos
I am learning more about the First People who stewarded this land for hundreds of generations, before Europeans came. Mary Hufty recommended a good book: "Tending the Wild", by M. Kat Anderson. Lots of detail about Native Americans' care for the land. Other good books are "Braiding Sweetgrass", by Robin Wall Kimmerer, and (I hear) "Finding the Mother Tree", by Suzanne Simard. She gave a good talk to our Palo Alto Rotary Club.
Last months flowers: Sticky Monkeyflower still sticks around; a native bee pirates the nectar from behind the blossom. Blue Dicks has mostly turned to seed. Soap Plant has mostly ended its nightly shows; a cut flower-stalk found on the trail continued to bloom for several nights from a vase, each flower for one night only. Buckeye is vigorous, preparing to go into retreat for our long hot dry summer. And Crimson Columbine has mostly disappeared; I do hope you were able to appreciate it while you could!
This month's flowers:
Beaked Hawksbeard, a leggy-looking yellow flower, naturalized here from southern Europe. Pollinating insects love it!
Purple Western Morning-glory. A prolific vine with a showy flower. Endemic to California. Retreats below ground to a woody caudex in the dry months. Graces our chaparral and coastal shrub.
Hairy Honeysuckle, another vine, has an interesting leaf which envelopes the stem. Native to California and the West Coast up to BC.
California Hedge Nettle, a tall shaft with multi-storied flowers. Perennial, endemic to California, growing in many ecosystems from chaparral to the Redwood forest.
Western Vervain (Verbena lasiostachys) -- let's just go with Danna and the Latin and call it "Verbena"! A native perennial herb, growing in a variety of ecosystems. Its square stem testifies to its close relation to mint.
