Dear Members,
Spring is here in all its glorious unpredictability: warm, cold, windy by turns.
Shasta Chapter CNPS 2021 Spring Plant Sale is, again, an online sale with pickup by appointment. The Plant Store opened April 2, 2021, at 9 AM, and closes April 9, at 4 PM. Make sure you are allowing emails from CNPS, so that you can receive the Members’ Discount Code. Shop early for best selection.
The other day, I saw the first pipevine swallowtail butterfly. It must have just emerged, as I was able to sneak up for a photo. I was worried that it had nothing to feed from, but when I walked out to my grassy field, I saw that the first bluedicks had opened. Bluedick is so called from its old botanical name, Dichelostemma capitatum. As the only species in that genus to have six stamens (rather than three), it has since been moved into its own genus and is now called Dipterostemon capitatus. It is one of the earliest blooming species I find here in Cottonwood, and so the wildflower year has begun…
Of course the weeds have been blooming for a while, already: geranium, daisy, grass families. Not all weeds are introduced plants, however. Being a weed is a “lifestyle”: emerge early, bloom early, make lots of seeds… maybe even get local insects to spread your seeds around. In this way, even a beloved native plant such as miner’s-lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata), qualifies as a “weed.” I have found, at the base of oak trunks, caches of their black shiny seeds gathered by ants. On a warm still day in spring, the fragrance from a million small flowers is wonderful. No need to pull this native “weed;” it will dry up and disappear on its own. ~Susan Libonati-Barnes, President