Category Archives: drought tolerant

drought tolerant, evergreens, months 07-09: summer, perrennials, urban deer

Hens and Chicks – – & Roosters

07/16/2013 svseekins 7 Comments

There’s something very alien yet oddly appealing about hens & chicks.

Is it because they cluster together in such a tight & tidy clump?

Is it because their turgid leaves are so different from the regular ones?

Or maybe because they choose the most inhospitable places to bring up their broods? Check out them partying it up in these rocky crevices !! Isn’t that the true meaning of ‘drought-tolerant’? & ‘well-drained” !?!

hens & chicks on the rocks — photo by SVSeekins

I’ve admired sempervivum for ages. To start, I tried to grow some myself but over-cared for them to death. (some succulents are tricky that way – – although I have a pretty good history with jade plants).

Several flocks were already established on the rocky mountainside when we moved to the Richmond house. I can just let them completely alone & they happily do their thing. They prefer being ignored. So I ignore them.

cu hens & chicks on rocks — photo by SVSeekins

The deer seem to ignore them too – – or at least they must ignore them enough that the hens & the deer coexist comfortably.

Occasionally I’ll stumble over a mat of the little guys, which gives them a good squish, but they seem to recover & carry on. If any of the chicks are knocked loose, they just seem to roll down the hill & set up another colony wherever they land. Cool.

They even carry on after being covered by snow, which we occasionally get here on the west coast. I like a plant that just keeps on surviving. 🙂

Can it get any better:
– evergreen
– funky looking
– deer resistant
– drought tolerant

Oh yeah – – check out the hens & chicks when the roosters come to visit !!

hens and chicks and ???? — photo by SVSeekins

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© SVSeekins and Garden Variety Life, 2013

Other post in series:
Roosters On The Chopping Block
Blooming Roosters

bulbs, drought tolerant, garden visits, months 04-06: spring, urban deer

Meadow Blooms 5 – Camas

05/13/2013 svseekins 4 Comments

The camas meadow swaying in the spring breeze is like no other. Suddenly I’m walking in a fairytale instead of strolling in a Victoria park. Has my mind gone wild? Could I ever have come up with a dream so lovely? No. It must be real.

No gardener created this scene, either. This is Nature’s beauty.

Camas Meadow - Beacon Hill Park 3 — photo by SVSeekins

camas at Mt. Tolmie Park 2 — photo by SVSeekins

Camas meadows have flourished on South Vancouver Island longer than memory reaches into the past. The southern slope of Beacon Hill has been a camas meadow for centuries. It’s probably one of the key reasons it’s preserved as a park today. The same goes for the Garry oak meadows of Mt. Tolmie Park. At this time of year, they’re magical places.

Early peoples saw more than beauty in the camas; they saw food. I wonder who it was to first realize the bulbs are delicious?

Camas at Mt. Tolmie Park 1 — photo by SVSeekins

Perhaps she had gardening tendencies like mine; seeing a lovely flower automatically triggers an urge to have that flower in my own garden. (I’m known to dig up plants from roadsides.)

Before we moved from the Cedar Hill property to the Richmond house, I dug up as many camas as possible. The Garry oak meadow in the backyard was a great natural source for them, but the digging wasn’t so easy.

When I was able to dig deep enough, I often found the bulb tucked securely in a tight rocky crevice. Un-obtainable! I did manage to get a good number of bulbs (perhaps 2 dozen), but there was no risk of over-harvesting that hillside.

There was certainly more risk of starvation if camas had been my only sustenance. A good deal of effort for a very small reward. That gardener from long ago must’ve had more ingenuity than I have.

Apparently, she figured out a method that includes burning the meadow first. (?!?!…) Perhaps that was a way of cooking the camas in the process? By the time she got one out of the ground, it was already transformed into a sweet treat? I just can’t figure it….

Happily, after all my sweat equity, I now enjoy blooming borders.

snowdrops in January…
crocus in February…
daffodils in March…
hyacinth in April…
and camas in May…

It times out nicely. When the foliage of the spring bulb dies back, the daylily takes over for the summer. And from all that bounty, it’s only the latter that the deer like to feast on. 🙂

a bit of history on camas
a camas recipe
growing camas

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© SVSeekins and Garden Variety Life, 2013

Camas Meadow - Beacon Hill Park 1 — photo by SVSeekins

P.S. Here are some other meadow faves:

bulbs, drought tolerant, garden visits, months 04-06: spring, natives

Meadow Blooms 4 – Fawn Lily

04/09/2013 svseekins 10 Comments

How could I have missed this? For years I lived right across from Beacon Hill Park! I celebrated their fabulous meadows every spring. Daffodils & tulips in March & April; later, the camas meadows in May…. But somehow, this Fawn Lily meadow had eluded me – until now!

Fawn Lily meadow at Beacon Hill Park — photo by SVSeekins

I first became aware of native fawn lilies when a naturalist pointed them out during a spring wildflower walk around Elk Lake. The fawn lilies grow along the forest edges of the walking paths there. I was particularly charmed by the leaf pattern: dappled spots just like the back of a fawn. (Aw… Bambi flowers…)

Fawn Lily bloom & leaf CU — photo by SVSeekins

Since then, I’ve also noticed fawn lilies along the trail around Cedar Hill Golf Course. Later, I was delighted to discover them growing wild in the backyard at the Cedar Hill Road house.

Of course, when we planned our move to the Richmond house, it was IMPORTANT to bring some of those fawn lilies with me to the next yard.

They had such long taps (6 inches or more) that led down to thin, elongated bulbs. They were really tricky. Most broke off & stayed rooted where they grew, but I did get a few.

Only a couple survived the transplant trauma. The 2 successful specimens are in the border near the driveway. For the first 3 years, they just produced leaves. Last year one bloomed! I’m coddling them (go figure).

3 x fawn lily at Beacon Hill Park — photo by SVSeekins

I’ve also been buying seeds from the Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary & scattering those willy-nilly. So far, no luck, but I have dreams.

One gardener from the Native Plant Study Group tells me that she seeds them into trays & lets them sit outside for a couple of years. That way, they’re easier to identify when they come up, & she doesn’t weed out the tiny babies by mistake. She’ll eventually be able to move them into her beds to naturalize.

I might just have to do that myself – – if I can muster the patience. I have lots of dreams but little patience. 🙂

P.S. Here are some other meadow faves: