Rumex sanguineous, the bloody dock, which I love saying and writing, has been flawless all summer. Which is gratifying because, as an edible, I assumed my battalions of snails and slugs would have made lacework of it. Apparently not to their taste. Full sun, happy in this heavy soil that’s on the dry side in summer.
If you allow the tall, brushy brown flowers to form, you will have lots of bloody dock. This year I cut the flowers off before they could form seed.
Corner stock tank on the left with young Rhodocoma capensis in the gravel was removed recently. Billie had a lot of room back then!
Leaving bloody dock and on to some recent changes. Last Saturday morning I was pruning the Rhodocoma capensis at the Wonder Garden, something I do frequently with mine. Limbing it up into an arching, vase-like shape to give surrounding plants some breathing room. Maybe it was the size of the towering restio at the Wonder Garden that influenced what I did to mine Saturday afternoon when I got home.
I can become unreasonably attached to certain plants, I admit, but on Saturday something snapped and cold practicality won. It was obvious that this heavily trafficked corner closest to the back stairs needed some serious breathing room. (Marty had been saying this for months.)
The potato vine Solanum laxum was requiring such frequent cutting back to keep the walkways passable that I was leaving loppers permanently propped against the stairs. And a ladder was now needed to keep it off the roof. ( I hate it when ladders become part of routine care.)
And once I started to look at this corner critically instead of emotionally, I realized the 6-foot stock tank wasn’t growing anything particularly irreplaceable and should be removed as well. Which left the restio. Without the tank holding it back, I knew I’d have to keep the loppers handy to clear the walkways of the arching restio in perpetuity.
Once the decision was made the work was quick. Marty happily tackled the vine and dug up the restio while I hid in the house. Change is hard. But I love the result (even if the neighbor’s entire two-story house is now visible from the stairs instead of just half of it). We emptied the stock tank of soil and gave the tank and soil to a new home. The original idea for the tank was to grow the native moisture-loving Darmera peltata. Without adding water daily, the tank was impossible to keep moist enough for the darmera, which has been moved to the east under a downspout.
The plants get up to really interesting associations throughout the season. And even though they lean into and on each other, it’s amazing what intricate support systems they devise. Even after an afternoon of heavy wind, the garden moves together like a single organism.
Lastly, a video (sorry about any ads!) with Rosy Hardy visiting Derry Watkins at her home and nursery Special Plants. Wonderful to hear Derry proclaim it’s okay if plants don’t live forever! It’s okay to make changes! Truer words…
More soon, AGO
I completely understand re: things getting too crowded. So welcome in summer but there comes a point in the late part where the need to thin and clean up overgrown chaos becomes a bit overwhelming. We have had a wettish summer so the plants are twice as big as usual. I have my machete out! Fun to walk around dahlia fields at this time of year. The epitome of Fall.
I am getting less sentimental about some plants in the ground. Sometimes change is good even if we have to hide inside while the change happens. Have you eaten Rumex sanguineus? Did you like it? If so, I’d like a recipe. Contrary to other sorrels I’ve eaten, it doesn’t have a bright tart flavor – it seems more insipidly muddled and muddy. Your garden looks fab-o!
I don’t even recognize your 2022 garden. Although it takes time to mull big changes over, in the end it’s always worth it. Frankly your garden looks wonderful before & after. However, being able to breathe and feel light in the fall is a wonderful thing! I’m inspired!
@Elaine, so you’ve had rain and lots of growth. I count ourselves as the lucky ones — not so much rain for me here in summer but mild temps compared to how brutal the summer has been elsewhere.
@Jerry, I’ve read the young rumex leaves are superior. I’ve never tried it. In fact this morning, pulling out some old basal growth was really my first encounter with why it’s named bloody dock — sap is blood red!
@Tracy, I think my problem is I don’t mull for long enough before jumping in! And it’s great to get rid of a lot of the growth the spiders were using to anchor webs too. I don’t mind sharing the garden but spiders in my hair is not cool!
Your garden is looking great, Denise! I got hit fairly hard with our recent heatwave and mine’s looking decidedly worse for the wear. I grew Rumex at one time but as I recall it didn’t hold up. In your experience, can it handle the intense heat here?
FYI, apparently Blogspot’s blogroll has a hiccup and is failing to update so I missed your last post until I did a manual check.
@Kris, I sympathize with the blogging issues, I’ve got a fair number of my own. I’d be hesitant to recommend any plant for the summer you’ve had! I’m hoping my agaves and aloes made it through.