Hayefield

Posted on March 25, 2023March 25, 2023 by Nan Ondra — 14 Comments

Don’t Be Ordinary: Grow Seeds with a Story

I’d been growing Farnsworth’s jewel flower (*Streptanthus farnsworthianus*) for several years before learning about the person behind the plant. While doing some research about botanical names on California Plant Names: Latin and Greek Derivations and Meanings, I discovered that “farnsworthianus” refers to Evalyn Lucille Klein Farnsworth, a California rancher and naturalist. There’s more to her story (and many others) on the site, which is, by the way, safe to visit even if your browser says it is not secure.

Several years ago, I posted the first installments of the “Don’t Be Ordinary” series—Explore Intriguing Alternatives , Consider the Source, and Eight Utterly Un-Ordinary Gems—to highlight some of the many ways that growing plants from seed can make your garden unique. Since spring arrived too late for this month’s Bloom Day, and the next is nearly a month away, this is a perfect opportunity to pick another topic. Let’s consider the ways seeds, and the plants they produce, can link us to other times, places, and people through the stories connected with them. Continue reading Don’t Be Ordinary: Grow Seeds with a Story

Posted on March 15, 2021March 15, 2021 by Nan Ondra — 14 Comments

Three Neat Plants

First, my apologies to all of you who got the new post notification several days ago, only to find an incomplete post or a “page not found” error. Fourteen years of blogging, and I finally made the mistake I’ve been dreading, of hitting “Publish” instead of “Save Draft.” How mortifying. I promise to be more careful in the future!

If you happened to catch the draft post before I deleted it, you got a sneak peek at the first in this group of three neat plants: a glorious annual with a humdinger of a common name: ‘Shiro-gane Nishiki’ kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate (Persicaria orientalis, formerly Polygonum orientale). For the sake of convenience, I shall henceforth refer to it here as KMOTGG.

Continue reading Three Neat Plants

Posted on March 16, 2020March 1, 2022 by Nan Ondra — 10 Comments

Make the Most of Self-Sowers (Part 2)

Silene dioica 'Ray's Golden Campion' [©Nancy J. Ondra/Hayefield.com] — *Silene dioica* ‘Ray’s Golden Campion’

Last month, I started discussing one of my favorite kinds of seeds: the self-sowers. Though they have a reputation for being easy, self-sowers tend to make their own rules, sometimes needing specific germination conditions and benefiting from a little custom care to work to best advantage. Over the years, I’ve come up with some ways that work well for me and identified a bunch of self-sowers that have been happy to make Hayefield their home.