Then, this week, we had one of those rains that lasts for hours without wind. At no time was the downpour so strong that it would cause erosion. The gentle rain, followed by mist, had time to sink into the soil that had been robbed of the snow melt by high winds.
Afternoon temperatures have been warm enough to make those who like early Daylight Savings Time happy. Unfortunately, by the time the air is warm enough to venture out, the winds have begun. Meantime, morning temperatures are those of late winter, ranging from 14F to 39F on the day rain clouds were settling in.
Last rain: 3/17. Week’s low: 14 degrees F. Week’s high: 75 degrees F in the shade. Winds were up to 32 mph in Los Alamos on Wednesday.
What’s green in the area: One-seeded junipers, and most cultivated evergreens; Japanese honeysuckle and all the cultivated yuccas.
What’s green beyond the walls and fences: Horseweed, goat’s beard; June, needle, and smooth brome grasses.
When I made my weekly trip into town on Tuesday, I noticed areas of green along the road shoulder. I suspect cheat grass is coming up in the village, although it hasn’t sprouted here. When I passed one of the arroyos, I saw the salt bushes were light green. In my yard, some are leafing, and some are not.
What’s green in my yard: Leaves on Apache plume, cliff rose, fern bush, bearded iris, grape hyacinths, garlic chives, vinca, large-leaved soapwort, wintered-over snapdragons, hollyhocks, sweet peas, Queen Anne’s lace, black-eyed Susan, chocolate flower, chrysanthemums.
Many of the plants that are emerging are near the gravel drive or between cracks in block walks. The stone both traps water and seems to retain heat. This week I noticed daylilies, tansy, Dutch clover, and alfalfa coming up in those areas.
What’s turned red in the area: New growth on trees in the rose family, especially apricots.
What’s turned red/purple in my yard: Leaves on some alfilerillo, coral bells, coral beard tongues, Bath pinks, golden spur columbine, pink evening primroses, blue flax; some stems on roses are pale green and some are maroon.
What’s turned yellow in the area: Branches on a big weeping willow.
What’s gray in my yard: Snow-in-summer.
Animal sightings: Shadows of ravens overhead.
I saw two stars of Bethlehem breaking ground on Wednesday. I put a piece of wire-mesh screen over the area to keep the rabbit from eating them.
Tasks: Tuesday I saw that several people near the village had burned straw along their fences.
One of the ditch meetings is scheduled for next Saturday; another was held a couple weeks ago.
Weekly update: Red hot pokers went from something desirable to a nuisance this past summer. I first planted them in 1998 because they grew in the area. The ones I got were a disappointment. Instead of the bright orange and yellow flowers on tall stems, mine were tamed for suburban taste: the dull brick color and small plants seen in the above photograph.
They grew along a slope leading down from the driveway until 2013, when they didn’t come back. The winter had not been particularly severe. It got down to 15 degrees F a couple times in November and 6 on December 11. Authors of garden manuals would not have been surprised. As late as 1973, Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum was saying “although new cultivars are, in general, hardier than older one, Torch-Lilies do not survive some Boston winters and cannot be recommended.” [1] Kniphofia uvaria, after all, is native to South Africa.
I finally decided the problem was water. The fall had been dry, but we got snow in December that lingered. However, I had had the driveway rebuilt in 2012, and had asked the contractor to change the grading so less water washed down the slope. That summer I also laid a course of pavers along the top of the bank to stop erosion. The pokers must have living on the runoff.
They were unmourned. I replaced them with yellow potentillas (Potentilla fruticosa).
Then, a year later, in 2014, I spotted what looked like poker leaves in the main bed south of the slope. I saw two more the next year. While they reproduce by seed, they had never bothered before. I had seen hummingbirds in them the last summer they grew, but that doesn’t mean they were the liaison. I rarely see the small insects that crawl deep into flowers.
Whatever their source, these pokers were local variants. The flowers, shown in the top photograph, where more like the bright red and yellow of the species. In 2016, one had planted itself in front of a miniature rose and was crowding it. In 2017, five plants appeared; the new ones came up next to daylilies. The number increased to ten in 2019, and the next summer their leaves were spreading over hoses so other plants didn’t get water.
That was their death knell. Last summer I spent an hour and a half in April cutting back leaves that were invading the rose, and laying over the terracing bricks I used as a path. I was cutting leaves again in May. This time, as soon, as the flowering stopped, I cut off the tops. Then in September, I spent more time cutting leaves.
That was when I decided it was time to dig out the most invasive. I used a shovel to remove the top parts of plants that consisted of leaves, a taproot like a golden-spur columbine, and lots of scions on top. Then I began slicing the rhizomes under the taproot. When I got down 4", I encountered long roots attached to the tubers that were attached to the rhizomes. These roots were fleshy and about 1/8" thick. They extended out in all directions, including under the bricks.
I spent most of October on the plant in the top photograph, that was smothering a potentilla, and the two that were growing next to the rose. By early November I was down 6" and still finding roots when it got too cold to work. I refilled dirt so the potentilla and rose would be protected in the winter, and will begin again as soon as the soil warms.
I can tell that, instead of cutting back leaves all summer, I’ll be spending this summer digging out sprouts that have risen from broken pieces of the roots.
Notes on photographs:
1. Red hot poker, 8 June 2020, four years after it sprouted. It resettled where the ones had grown in the bottom picture. There’s a yellow potentilla buried under its leaves. It’s one of the ones I’ve been digging out.
2. Four-wing saltbush (Atriplex canescens) in my yard, 16 March 2022.
3. Two of the original red hot pokers at left, 28 May 2000, two years after they were planted.
End notes:
1. “Low Maintenance Perennials.” 153–384 in Arnold Arboretum, 1974. 389.
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