Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Cute Groundcover

I'm always on the hunt for an unusual plant. Once you've done something for a long time whether it's collecting or gardening one can get tired of the common, everyday, ubiquitous. I've seen all the same plants all over. I get excited about a plant I haven't seen before.

Last year I was in Lincoln Avenue Nursery in Pasadena and bought this little plant called Dalea capitata Sierra Gold. I had never seen it before or even heard of it. It's a desert plant native to Mexico. I was attracted to the little ferny leaves, red stems and tiny yellow flowers. Reported to grow only 8" tall by 3' wide, mine is already 2' wide in one year. And it's trying to swallow up an Iris. 



It's very drought tolerant and likes well drained soil. Research says overwatering leads to early death! That's why it's happy in my sandy soil. It's in Fabaceae - the Pea family. That's why it has cute little pea flowers. Usually all in that family make seed pods after flowering. But I've yet to see any.









You can see my wine bottle border for scale and that the plant is about to devour an Iris.  
































It's cute, right?  Do you grow this plant?  
Happy Gardening!