My Neglected Templeton Garden in June

June 19, 2017

What Happens When a Garden Takes Care of Itself

The Butterfly Bush

This is the same butterfly bush that fell in 2014. See this post for contrast photos.

Recovered Butterfly Bush Growing Upright Again, © B. Radisavljevic

Butterfly Bush in Context of Rest of Herb Garden,  © B. Radisavljevic

In the left background is an Italian CyrpeCypress tree. In the foreground is a combination of black sage and rosemary.  The orchard is in the background on the right. This is quite a contrast from my original herb garden when I planted it a couple of decades ago. This is what this section looked like in April, 2007.

Expanding Herb Garden in April, 2007, © B. Radisavljevic

Apples

I was happy to see our remaining apple tree is producing this year. 

Young Apples, June 19, 2017, © B. Radisavljevic

Walnuts on the Tree

Walnut Tree with Immature Nuts, © B. Radisavljevic

June 20, 2017

Papa Quail 

Papa Quail Watches Over Family, Which Is Hidden in Brush,  © B. Radisavljevic

Papa Quail in Context. Quail Family is Hidden in Brush, © B. Radisavljevic

It was too hot to stand still and wait for the quail family to come out of hiding so I could get a photo, but I often see the mother with her chicks running for cover in the brush as I go by. They live on the section of our land that is near the entrance. That's our oak tree in the background.

The Herbs on the Slope

I planted my first herbs in Templeton on the slope close to the front door. For years they've grown wild, and I discovered when I took these photos that a coyote brush plant had sneaked in under the  rosemary on the back edge and grown large enough to smoother whatever is under it. Probably my oregano and tricolor sage. Rosemary is still growing strong in back. But I'd like to concentrate on the flowers here. 

The lavender was among the first plants I placed on the slope. I got it from the now gone Sycamore Farms herb farm. The sage below was planted at the same time and came from the same place. The santolina (golden) was planted later. It probably also came from there. 

Bee Foraging on Lavender, © B. Radisavljevic

Santolina and Lavender Close Up, © B. Radisavljevic

Common Sage in Bloom, © B. Radisavljevic, 

Thyme on the Slope, © B. Radisavljevic 

This last photo shows an overview of the slope. The taller yellow flowers are volunteer dusty miller plants that reseeded from some older transplants. The santolina and lavender are on its left. You see mostly rosemary and sage on the right, with thyme in the foreground. All these plants originally came from four-inch pots around 2006, so you can see how much they have grown. For the last three years they have had little attention. 

Overview of West Side of Slope, © B. Radisavljevic

I hope you've enjoyed seeing what can happen to a neglected garden. It's amazing so much of it survived the drought with almost no irrigation.

Do you grow herbs? What are your most memorable experiences with them? Which are your favorites to grow?

*****

Wordless Wednesday: When Oak Trees are Weeds

Oak Trees Can Be Weeds if They Grow in Your Garden

Oak Tree Seedling that Sprouted in Rose Garden, © B. Radisavljevic

If An Oak Grows in a Rose Garden, It's a Weed

Oak Seedling Becomes a Weed in Rose Garden, © B. Radisavljevic

It looks like a squirrel missed an acorn it buried. It will be fun trying to dig this up. Anyone want a free oak tree?  

***

Wood Hath Hope

Oak Stump has New Shoots of Life

Back in the 1970's, John Foley, S.J., of the St. Louis Jesuits, published a song called "Wood Hath Hope. " The goal of the St Louis Jesuits was to provide melodic worship music that was easy for people to sing. The chorus of this song goes like this:

Wood hath hope.
When it's cut, it grows green again,
 _and it's boughs sprout clean again.
Wood hath hope.
     (Wood Hath Hope Songbook, North American Liturgy Resources, 1978, p. 40)



The song speaks of the tree that's been cut down to a stump. It looks dead, but, like the tree above, it revives. New branches full of leaves, as you see coming from this oak stump here in Templeton, California, grow again. The tree may not have the same form as it had before, but it's still alive and growing. The growth of this tree continues, in spite of the barbed wire you can see cutting into it.

The second stanza of the song tells us that we humans are in a state of waiting for death to strip our souls and end our lives and that "mortal life's like a dried up river bed" and that we "sleep to rise no more."

Salinas River During the Dry Season in June

The the song writer introduces the thought that "if a man could rise again" and be taken by God to a loving land, people could have hope. That's what Jesus did. He rose from the dead after his crucifixion, conquering death forever.


Even the dry riverbed won't stay dry forever. God sends the rain to revive it. This is the same spot after a season of more rain than usual.

Same Tree You Saw Above at Same Spot After the Rains