Springtime

This is manic depressive season for California native plant gardeners. One minute we're waxing euphoric over the delicate buds of the Ribes Sanguineum. The next moment we're in a fatalist funk over the massive patch of African oxalis expanding blob-like towards the fuscia.

I took some photos of said Ribes this morning. It's just beginning to bud. According to my sources, it should yield currants this year. Last year was the first year it had flowers on it. It gets these long dangling lavender flowers that look like earrings that Chaka Khan would have worn back in the 70's.

And then there's the monkeyflower.

I have one standard yellow bushy monkeyflower out front that goes dormant towards the end of summer, but then I have this other hybrid monkeyflower from Strybing arboretum, that blooms just about all year. It's really going to town right now, so I took some pictures.

People complain that you don't notice the seasons in California. Well, no, you don't if your garden consists of turf grass and marigolds.

You want to see the seasons change, plant natives.

Or just move back to Minneapolis.

Kurt "big daddy" True
6 march 2004