It’s Monday again so here’s an update on the Meadow!
Today I am going to highlight another flowering weed, this one is called Horseweed or Marestail. I am not 100% certain that it is the weed I’m picturing here, but that’s the closest thing I could find on the world wide web.
Horseweed
In it’s own way, it can be pretty. The head hasn’t really started blooming yet, so I’m expecting to see this mass of white on top. So far, all the natural “weeds” seem to be either white or yellow. I’m hoping to plant some more purple bulbs this fall and hopefully some more perennials in the spring, which should bring a nice contrast. Or maybe I should plan colors to change as the season changes… pinks early on fading to reds, and then to yellows and whites? Hmm…I better come up with a plan and stick to it for this year though, otherwise I’ll never get it done!
Detail flowering head of Horseweed
So growing up this is not a particularly attractive plant, but hidden through my meadow I didn’t really notice it until it started to bloom. According to the internet, it appears to be a scourge to farmers, taking over a lot of their crop, as it is also resistant to most of the herbicides used. Ah well, it can have some space in my meadow, as long as it doesn’t take over everything…
View of Meadow from interior
From this shot, you can see a few scattered around, but it doesn’t stand out as much as the goldenrod does. See those smaller pine trees? They are coming out very soon. If I have too many trees, it becomes woodland and not a meadow. I actually prefer woodland, but not on my drain field. I plan on selling this house one day, and I don’t think that a wrecked drain field would be a selling point. Also, scrub pines (which most of those are) are not good trees for a forest. Around here, they are spindly looking and frail. They snap easily in the winds, and have a poor root system that comes up easily. We’ve had five of them come down this year in storms. Every year I think we’ve lost at least one or two. The only thing they seem to be good for: woodpeckers love them. Then again, I saw a woodpecker working on a utility pole here the other day.
This last friday my boss also surprised me with a new plant! She bought this on clearance (and paid a mere fraction of the price tag):
New Daylily to plant
The plant looks like it’s it in good condition, and now I just need to figure out where to put it! I have a couple of spots I’m thinking about, but I’m going to wait until fall really starts to settle in.
In some non-meadow but still outdoor related news…the salvia out front is bigger than ever this year I think:
Salvia gone wild
I really want to propogate it because I’d love to have many of these plants out back in the meadow. I am worried about cutting too much however, and then nothing surviving. I would be very sad to lose this plant, as it’s the last of three to survive that I planted the first year or two we were here.
Almost every window well to the basement has it’s own funnel spider chilling out. Check this guy out:
Hello there Spider
They’re all pretty big spiders, but I’m happy to see them. I like all my outdoor spiders because they catch and eat a lot of annoying bugs. Also, I like my indoor spiders too for the same reason.
Happy Monday!
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