#but they sure do invite the early season polinators and I need those for my strawberries that are already flowering

[ghostlyfoliage]

I'm going to have several larger specimens of miner's lettuce this year. It's starting to rival those in my sister's yard. I hope it continues to spread as I'd be happy to have these everywhere as they sprout in winter when it's still too cold for the invasive annuals.

For an example, this is usually how big these are at this time of year. It's interesting how they display several colors from this rusty grey/red all the way to light green and everything between.

The coyote tobacco is creating mats and giving the chickweed a fight that it seems to be winning. They seeded so much the last two years that my small patch has come to take up most of this section of the front yard along with some asters.

Scorpion weed is one of the perennial natives on the property. Their leaves are quite fuzzy and they don't die back during winter unlike the violets (which are still quite small this time of year).

And there's another new native this year. It's lucky I saw it so early because this coloring will fade as it grows, making identification difficult without a flower. It's an annual named Clarkia rhomboidea (aka Diamond Clarkia). Very nice indeed, though I have no idea where it came from. They can get to be a decent size (3ft), so we'll see how this goes...

#plantblr #plants #outdoor plants #native plants #my tending brings all the natives to the yard and they're like THANKS FOR TAKING OUT THE CHEATGRASS AND BS SO WE CAN THRIVE! #seriously though I have a lot of grass to murder #it never ends with the grass #i already pulled a lot of weeds and I'm nowhere near done #obviously I'm leaving the dandelions alone #I'm also leaving the storks bills. chickweed. draga. and henbit #they're all smaller plants that aren't much of a pain #eventually I'll end up thinning some of it out probably #but for now it's ok #like... I'm pulling the obnoxious shit and I keep getting more natives moving in despite the chickweed making mats #the earliest non-native to sprout is the storks bills #but they sure do invite the early season polinators and I need those for my strawberries that are already flowering #I'm honestly surprised cheatgrass isn't classified higher cus it puts out a chemical that inhibits growth of other plants #which gives it a significant edge #chickweed and storks bills just sprout early in the season #miner's lettuce is sprouting back up in late fall and dgaf about the cold #storks bills are out there as soon as winter starts to warm #chickweed is tail of winter to early spring #so.... #I have been paying attention to their habits for a couple years now #cheatgrass is out there about the time as stork's bills and with it's qualities is a massive pain in the ass