Revfad Blog

Category: Plants

  • Eating society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea)

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    David Faden
    in

    Today at a workday at the local school, one of the volunteers thinned the society garlic (Tulbaghia violacea) plantings. They were threatening to crowd out some plants added to the beds by students (not pictured in the photo below). I’d heard from another volunteer that society garlic are edible so I asked to grab some.…

  • Japanese cheesewood in Japan

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    David Faden
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    On a recent visit to Japan, I was amused to see some of what I’m pretty sure was Pittosporum tobira, aka Japanese cheesewood: I’ve written about it a couple of times before — Pittosporum tobira and Pittosporum tobira’s sticky seeds — looking at some of the many specimens growing right next door. But here it…

  • Creeping thistles

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    David Faden
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    I visited my parents in Iowa last week. One thing I did was help with pulling out thistles that had been spreading throughout a couple garden beds — 89 plants one day, a couple more another day. But what kind of thistle were they? I was hoping non-native since my hope is to nudge things…

  • Calandrinia (Cistanthe grandiflora) aka Rock purslane

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    David Faden
    in

    This morning I heard a kid ask their mom, “What’s that flower?”, pointing to blooms like these near the street. I have looked up the name a couple times myself but didn’t have it mind. I’m writing this now to try to cement it in my memory. Cistanthe grandiflora is native to Chile. It was…

  • Touch grass

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    David Faden
    in

    Here are some of the types of grass (family Poaceae) I’m trying to grow around our yard. Idaho fescue (Festuca idahoensis) is my current favorite — I just like the way it looks: I’ve had pretty good luck growing it from seed. I’ve contributed a few plants grown from seed to the local school. It…

  • Eating Claytonia perfoliota

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    David Faden
    in

    I’ve heard for a while that Claytonia perfoliata is edible, but only got my hands on enough for a salad this last weekend. A local gardener was planning on clearing some from a bed and offered to let me share in the bounty. Thank you, Diana! Here are a few individual stems + leaves +…

  • Fourleaf manyseed?

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    David Faden
    in

    Suddenly, I’m seeing a lot of this weed in our yard: Seek identifies it as Fourleaf Manyseed (Polycarpon tetraphyllum). (Interesting how close the common name is to the botanical one: “Carpon” is a “seed” or “fruit”, from Greek, so “Polycarpon” could be translated “many seed” and “tetraphyllum” just means “four leaves”.) It does look pretty…

  • Starting the new year with a little gardening

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    David Faden
    in

    There was a break in the rain on New Year’s Day so I headed over to the school. I carried a couple plants with me that had been growing in pots on our patio for a while: California Aster (Symphyotrichum chilense), cultivated from overflow from our yard, and goldenrod (probably Solidago velutina ssp. californica), salvaged…

  • Pittosporum tobira’s sticky seeds

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    David Faden
    in

    Back in April, I wrote about Pittosporum tobira, hoping to put a few facts into my memory. One thing that “stuck” with me a little: that the genus name refers to them having sticky seeds. Now that the seed pods are popping open, the source of the name seems clearer: Seed pods popping open on…

  • Covington Sensory Garden Natives Blooming November 1, 2025

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    David Faden
    in

    The Covington Elementary sensory garden features a lot of native plants. Here are the ones I noticed blooming Saturday while we were working on some upkeep. Common Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) Many of the plants in the main yarrow patch in the garden aren’t just done blooming; their tops are brown and crispy. This one in…