Sprouts

Two sets of sprouts that have popped in recently in our home nursery, representing extremes of germination times:

Telegraph weed (Heterotheca grandiflora), sowed October 28 this year; I noticed the first sprouts on November 1, just four days after sowing. The photo below is from November 5th.

I saw them blooming on El Monte on the way to Foothill College September 30th this year (iNaturalist). Perhaps if we’re lucky, they’ll be adding some cheerful yellow in one our gardens in fall 2025.

Hollyleaf Cherry (Prunus ilicifolia), sowed August 25 this year. I missed the first emergence of the sprout, but it doesn’t seem too old meaning it took pretty close to 72 days for something visible to appear. This photo is also from November 5th.

I hadn’t noticed the pappus adorned seed sitting on top till I was editing the photo just now.

This is my third attempt at propagating hollyleaf cherry, which I’m curious about mostly because of its wildlife value. Two previous attempts starting from cuttings had a 100% failure rate. (One set of cuttings from a seed exchange, another salvaged from a trimmings pile at a nearby park.) I had given up on the seeds ever sprouting so had started another round of cuttings (salvaged from a school garden maintenance project) — and bought one plant at the most recent Santa Clara CNPS sale.

I’m hoping something will survive out of all these. And if many of them survive, I’ll be looking forward to giving many away.