First toadflax bloom

What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson, Fortune of the Republic, 1878~

It has been unnaturally colder than normal the last week, with the lows in the mid 30s, F, a lovely visit from the jet stream which normally doesn't traverse our way. I am not used to cold like this. Amazingly, I still have green plants in my garden, and these include fava beans, peas, chard, parsley, potato plants and cilantro.

Not surprisingly, weeds continue to do well despite our cold spell, and right now, the toadflax is just coming up. I keep toadflax around for the dainty Easter egg colored flowers. Family Plantaginaceace, species Linaria. They were originally in the Scrophulariaceae family, which was my first guess. I don't think they do well as a cut flower because they only seem to last a day in the vase, after which the tiny flowers fall off and form a mess both on the table and in the water. Still, I occassionally bring them home for the table, if only for a day.

Leaving room for wildflowers: spring toadflax

I am not a compulsive gardener when it comes to what we call weeds. Maybe 'selective' is a better word. I make sure to pull the pernioious weeds, number one being the false garlic. However, I find I make room for toadflax and california poppy, especially when they provide welcome color when we are in between the winter and summer crops. I like leaving room for wildflowers in my garden. They remind me to be open to surprises.

Five ways to celebrate Earth Day

The best quote ever: Every day is earth day. Found in the Mutts cartoon for today, April 22nd 2011.
Five ways to celebrate Earth Day everyday:
1. Grow your own greens.

2. Practice gratitude.

3. Compost your greens. Start worm composting.

4. Recycle.

5. Walk, bike or use mass transportation.

So what are you doing to celebrate?

Weeds, slugs and all: we are ready for spring

I don't know about you but I'm just about done with the cold and the mud and the epic rainstorms. I've got toadflax blooming in my garden. Along with my bazillion slugs, I'm ready for spring.



Family Plantaginaceae
Linaria sp.

The last of the toadflax

I saw on the internets that toadflax are considered invasive weeds. Nevertheless, being somewhat the newbie gardener, I've kept these guys because I think they look so cute and they fill in the gaps between the veggies with loads of color. This is a shot of their very last stand, hard to believe. I'll pull them out when they turn to seed, making sure to scatter the seeds carefully just in my plot since I don't know if my gardening neighbors share my same outlook. I'm certainly not rogue though I suspect the toadflax, being the invasive weeds that they probably are, probably wouldn't mind being dispersed indiscriminately to seed the world.

If I fell in love with blue

Blue toadflax

I'm partial to this blue, perhaps because it reminds me of spring time. I'm reminded of why I've always loved flowers, their in-the-moment perfection a personal flag to take a deep breath and enjoy life even for a second.

These toadflax have been reliably self-seeded guys, growing in any gaps they can find, providing unexpected dashes of color. Quite inspirational, these toadflax.

With toadflax growing in every spare spot

I love that these self-seed every year, inevitably in an array of easter egg colors. Spring has certainly sprung when I see linarias in my garden. I thought these were in the family Scrophulariaceae but was quite surprised to find that they have been reclassified into the Plantaginaceae family.

Family: Plantaginaceae, Linaria sp.