Wild Weedy Wednesday / Now What? / Path Refesh Completion

Erigeron canadensis

The genus Erigeron contains both ornamental plants and those species considered weeds. Erigeron glaucus, the Seaside Daisy, native to the US west coast, is considered an ornamental plant. Erigeron karvinskianus, Santa Barbara Daisy, native to Mexico, is often found as a groundcover. It is an ornamental with a weedy attitude because it can reseed lavishly. It is hardy to about 15F, so in colder climates, living as an annual, it is better behaved (is it?).

On the other hand, Erigeron canadensis, Horseweed, native to much of North America, has become a introduced weed in Eurasia and Australia.

Erigeron canadensis occasionally appears in my garden. Its flowers can photograph well, but otherwise the species is most definitely weedy in appearance and behavior. It grows long enough before flowering to enable pulling before seeds are set, so is not a problem in this garden. I happened to miss pulling one--and it flowered.

It does produce a pretty photo:

Hopefully it didn't drop many seeds before I pulled it.

Trachelium caeruleum, native to the western Mediterranean, has gotten a little out of hand this year because of our lavish winter rains. Many seedlings have come up, though not far from the "mother" plants. It's not a weed, but might be in a more reliably rainier climate with a less attentive gardener.

It is a fantastic cut flower. Picking the flowers is a great way to keep it from reseeding.

With white Leucanthemums and roses: 'Rouge Royale' on the left, and a solitary 'Firefighter' on the left:

Froggie thinks it looks delicious:

With 'Firefighter', 'Rouge Royale' and 'The Prince' roses, 'Bloomstruck' Hydrangea and 'Brilliant Blue' Agapanthus:

Visit Words and Herbs for more weeds/wild flowers/not quite weeds.

What else this week? We're getting a long stretch of days right-around-90F (32c). Gardening before 10 am and after 6pm is tolerable. 90F is not so bad, but a long stretch (weeks) of consecutive 90F days is tough on the garden. Acer palmatum 'Oshio Bene' is dropping a lot of leaves and I've given it extra water to try to help it.

Agapanthus are holding up okay:

Dahlias--okay. I think they prefer temperatures in the 70's.

Leucanthemums about to shut down for the year:

The Tagetes erecta seeds hold up remarkably well to heat and are growing:

Clematis 'Polish Spirit' finally flowered a bit. It did not flower or grow much at all last year. But better late than never. Planted in 2021.

A new Pentas--they are heat lovers, but must get sufficient water, so they are one of the targets for vigilant spot-watering, either before 10am or after 6pm:

There's last year's Pentas, the only one I kept. The others looked so terrible during our rainy winter I pulled them. This one looked terrible but not as terrible as the others. As soon as warmer weather arrived it began to grow and flower again.

Salvia 'Mystic Spires Blue' looking lovely at sunrise:

Zinnia flowers any day now. Still pinching the smaller ones to make them branch:

The path refresh project is completed by filling the spaces between flagstones with "river stones". These larger pebbles (~2"/5 cm) stay in place very well--far better than the ~1/2"/~1 cm pebbles which formerly make up the path's surface. There are river stones between flagstones in other parts of the garden, and they behave. Not thrilled with the colors, but that's what was available.