Wednesday, August 12, 2015

A Wildflower for Wednesday

Pectis papposa, yellow desert wildflower, chinchweed, chinch weed, sonoran desert
 Although I have had some wonderful gardeners in my family, the gene did skip a generation coming to me.  My mother has never been overly interested in gardening (though certainly supportive of my efforts).  However, she has always been fascinated by the wild plants and animals to be found in the various place we lived.

This has had its influence on me too.  I have been known to indulge in the dubious (from a gardening perspective) practice of leaving a wildling to grow "to find out what it is".  Generally, it was not something to be recommended for a civilized garden!

This, though, is a different case.  I know that the plant in question is Pectis papposa, familiarly named Chinchweed.  It is an annual which grows on disturbed sites here in the Sonoran desert.  It blooms in late summer/early autumn, and the garden site had plenty of it when I began clearing.  And frankly, I am playing with litte Pectis papposa.

I may regret it later, but I have not found it a difficult plant to remove, unlike some of the other pests which grow around here!  I am using it as a temporary groundcover in areas where it is arriving as the season progresses.  In a few months it will dry out and blow away - or at least that was the pattern last year.  It's taking a bit of a chance, I know, letting it settle in under a rose bush, in this case "The Alnwick Rose".
Pectis papposa, yellow desert wildflower, chinchweed, chinch weed, sonoran desert
It has a nice scent to the leaves: a fresh herbal scent that still somehow warns "Don't eat me."  If I were a horse or cow - or a rabbit, perhaps - I would certainly leave it alone.  Our neighborhood, which consists largely of open desert, was full of this fragrance during a few weeks last autumn.

Well, we shall see whether this is a Bad Mistake or an Underused Native Annual.   Its friendly colours and airy habit are rather cheering in the oppressive moods of August.  So I hope it will be the latter!
Pectis papposa, yellow desert wildflower, chinchweed, chinch weed, sonoran desert
Weather Diary: Hazy; High yesterday: 95 F (35 C)/Low: 82 F (28 C)

8 comments:

  1. I'm a sucker for yellow flowers (especially daisies) so of course I love it. I hope you can keep it under control as it certainly makes a pretty groundcover.

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    1. As long as it can behave itself, I think it should go on the books as another promising yellow daisy :) It's not dense enough to keep weeds down much, but otherwise it does fill in the gaps nicely.

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  2. It looks lovely - of course, if it seeds merrily around your garden and it is enjoyed, then it isn't a weed! From what I know of this plant, it is considered frost tender, so that, and perpetual drought, should limit its desire for world domination :-)

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    1. It's growing a bit bigger in my (somewhat) improved soil, but the sudden increase in heat the last few days has already slowed it down...! I think that even if I don't use it long term, I will be able to remove it without a major struggle. In the meantime, yes, I'm enjoying it :)

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  3. It is a cheerful looking plant, if it can thrive in your garden conditions without taking over it must be right plant right place. It looks a little like a coreopsis (tickseed), which are a very popular garden plant over here.

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    1. As it grows naturally on disturbed soils, I suppose my new garden is much to its liking ;-) I hadn't thought of coreopsis, but there is a resemblance, though this is a smaller plant with much smaller flowers than the coreopsis varieties I'm familiar with. I haven't measured, but I would estimate the chinchweed flowers to run between 2-3 cm wide.

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  4. Nice to hear that you welcome the wild ones. It looks pretty, and if it's aromatic that's even better.

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    1. I love the aromatic ones! That's one great thing about the dry country - so many wild plants with fragrant foliage :)

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