This new pink muhly grass, Muhlenbergia capillaris ‘Plumetastic’ was supposed to be quite showy, with fantastic billowing pink clouds of flowers in autumn. That’s what it shows in the photos, anyway. This would be the photos the nurseries use to promote the things, not my photos. Obviously, there’s quite a discrepancy with the foliage descriptionContinue reading “Plume- not so -tastic”
Tag Archives: meadow
Oenothera Hookeri: a wonderful “weed”
It reseeds, it’s tall, it’s got more leaves than flowers. Its flowers fall off as soon as the day warms. But it’s also a fantastic thing to watch as night deepens. After sunset, the buds begin to swell. The sepals crack apart, then flip open. The petals emerge like popcorn, their motion apparent as youContinue reading “Oenothera Hookeri: a wonderful “weed””
Here come the butterflies!
As the California asters come into bloom, flocks of butterflies stop by for a meal.
Trimming the meadow
The goal is to remove last year’s vegetation before it starts to grow back. The asters’ seeds have long since been picked over by the finches, and the sedges have not yet begun their spring growth spurt. Likewise, the grasses and other plants are just beginning to think about emerging from dormancy. It’s trim backContinue reading “Trimming the meadow”
The meadow at it’s messiest: butterfly paradise
After summer’s growth, the asters have come into flower, bringing clouds of hungry butterflies. This is when the meadow is tallest, where it starts looking wild and unkempt. Asters arc in all directions, visited by multiple species of butterflies: skippers, buckeyes, blues, sulfurs… Beneath the asters, native goldenrod blooms following earlier waves of flowers nowContinue reading “The meadow at it’s messiest: butterfly paradise”
Time to cut back the California asters
After months of steady growth, the asters were reaching for the sky, with an average height of about 54 inches. Time to act. Last year, some of the asters were trimmed too late, almost completely eliminating their flowers. Others were done earlier, resulting at a solid floral display held below eye height. Untrimmed, the plantsContinue reading “Time to cut back the California asters”
Time to trim the meadow
The asters are dry and non-ornamental, the sedges will soon start their growth cycle, and the other herbaceous perennials will join them – so this was the time to cut everything back. The clippings are left in place to break down, keeping nutrients in the meadow so we don’t need to add fertilizer. The perennialsContinue reading “Time to trim the meadow”
A new native grass for the meadow
This is one of those plants whose common name – Alkali Sacaton – is only a bit more comprehensible than its Latin name – Sporobolus airoides. The Latin name is a lot more fun to say, however. We picked up a small fuzzy looking tuft of grass in a four inch pot at Elderberry FarmsContinue reading “A new native grass for the meadow”
Wind, Sun, Karl Foerster Grass
A breezy day near sunset, slanting rays of light coming through the grass as it dances in the wind… Feather Reed Grass, Karl Foerster variety (Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘Karl Foerster’) Calamagrostis x acutiflora ‘stricta’ is similar, if not indistinguishable. If you want variegated leaves, get ‘Overdam’ – although it isn’t as vigorous as the green-leaved varieties.
Looks like lawn, doesn’t it?
I was reading about herbivores. Large animals that graze in meadows. They typically chomp everything down, then move on. The meadow regrows; it’s adapted to that kind of treatment. In fact, grazing is supposed to stimulate side growth, otherwise known as vegetative reproduction, since it does tend to eliminate flowering parts that stick up. IContinue reading “Looks like lawn, doesn’t it?”