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| this gem can be easily overlooked in a field of flashy buttercups and queen-anne's lace |
Around here, we call it "blue star grass", but it isn't grass, its a tiny perennial of the Iris family. I mentioned it a while back, and Aunty said she had never heard of it so I am posting these photos for her. These are very small, about a quarter inch bloom on a spindly grass-like stem.
I have some problems with my field. A horrific weed has taken over. I am reluctant to use herbicides on the field because it is very meadow-like with its mix of wildflowers and grasses. I dont want to kill the blue stars! So I take a section every afternoon and dig up the bad weeds. It might take a year and Im not kidding. What I would do if money were no object is to plow and reseed the entire thing with a meadow mix.
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| blue stars on the indispensable distressed sideboard in my studio |
I've let the field grow high so that the seed pods of the grasses can drop. Now that it is so overgrown I can see what I have: oxeye daisies, buttercups, clover, rye, fescue, wild yarrow, rudbeckia, a variety of early asters and the blue stars. I used to keep the field cut and trim, which is pleasing to my eye because it makes my place look tidy and bigger, but I think I made the weeds worse by doing this as the grasses didnt get to seed but the fast growing uber-survivor weeds did. So, that is a policy that has been amended.
What else is going on in the garden? (not much, we are in transition from spring to summer food. I harvested all the lettuce, spinach and radish. Carrots are still growing and tomatoes, squash, beans and pumpkins arent much to look at right now. In the meantime, heres this):
Have a wonderful weekend everyone. I will be getting footage around the county for the Chamber of Commerce tourism videos. Planned stops: the fish hatchery, u-pick strawberries at Merciers Orchards, tubers on the Oconee, and whatever else I can find. Wish I could get some decent footage of the bear whos been tearing down my bird feeders. (I started bringing them in at night) Right now, I am going to have a glass of iced sun tea on my back porch and watch the hens scratch around. See you Monday!