The Real Dirt

Every gardener knows that weeds are just plants in the wrong place. Webster's dictionary defines a weed as a plant that is not valued where it is growing and is usually of vigorous growth; especially: one that tends to overgrow or choke out more desirable plants.

Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense) is a common sight throughout our hot dry Butte County summers. It is also considered to be one of the world's most noxious perennial weeds.

Puncturevine (Tribulus terrestris) is an attractive green plant with small yellow flowers commonly seen growing prostrate along the side of the road. A native to Southern Europe, it's also referred to as goathead. However, underneath its foliage lies danger: spiky seedpods with needle-point spikes.

Why are wine bottles tall and narrow? That distinctive shape contributes to the happy marriage between cork and a bottle made tall enough to lie on its side so the wine can breathe through the cork as it matures.

By this time of year the lush growth and colorful flowers of spring are just a memory. Many California native plants go dormant in the summer, waiting for the fall and winter rains before they grow again. Some plants, like California buckeye, are already losing their leaves.