The Golden Scourge: Cape Oxalis

Dealing with Cape Oxalis (or not).

Over twenty years of gardening and ten years of professional landscape design experience have taught me a thing or two about weeds.  Namely, that it's a Sisyphean task to try to eradicate certain species. Of those nasty interlopers, Cape oxalis (oxalis pes-caprae) would get my vote for the King of Weeds, because it's nearly impossible to remove from the garden- at least without the use of toxic herbicides, which I never recommend using.

Cape oxalis is native to South Africa, which has a Mediterranean climate similar to the Bay Area's.  It thrives in summer-dry, winter-wet environments and in clay soils.  It's sun and shade tolerant, and stores its energy in small bulbs, burrowed about a foot deep in the ground, each forming up to 20 plants per year. The plant is a winter perennial, which begins blooming in the fall through spring, then goes dormant in the summer.  Pulling the herbaceous portion of the plant reduces the spread temporarily, but because energy is stored in the bulbs, the plant will soon regenerate new foliage. 

Other than digging out all the bulbs (a foot deep) annually and sheet mulching regularly there is little chance of eradicating Cape oxalis from your garden in an environmentally-friendly way.  

Bummer.  Sometimes, we just have to give ourselves over to the fact that there are definitely natural phenomena that we can't control.

A good article on Cape oxalis is in the SF Chronicle: 

http://www.sfgate.com/homeandgarden/goldengategardener/article/Stopping-oxalis-is-no-small-task-2616233.php

For more information on Bay-Friendly weed control, check out StopWaste.Org's information on sheet mulching:

http://www.stopwaste.org/home/index.asp?page=398

Golden Beet and Bell Pepper Soup

This is my new favorite golden soup.  Try it: you'll like it.

GOLDEN GATE SOUP:

2 tbsp olive oil
5 shallots, chopped
3 orange, yellow and/or red peppers, seeded and chopped
3 large golden beets, peeled and chopped
4-6 cups chicken broth
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
4 oz goat cheese
fresh dill and/or parsley

Heat the oil in a soup pot.  Cook shallots on med heat with 1/4 tsp salt until translucent- about 5 minutes.  Add beets and peppers and cook on med-low, stirring, for another 10 minutes.  Add chicken broth and bring to a boil, partially cover pot, then reduce heat to simmer and cook for about an hour until beets are tender- about 1 hour.

Let cool slightly.  Stir in lemon juice add salt to taste (more or less, depending on if you've used salted chicken broth).  Puree with an immersion blender until smooth.

Ladle into bowls and serve with 1 tbsp crumbled goat cheese and chopped dill and/or parsley.

California Immigrant Stories

We Californians don't mean to be smug about living in the best place on earth... but we are.  It's no accident that we put down roots on the Best Coast.  The Golden Gate landscape is gorgeous, the mild climate is delightful and our cultural and economic landscapes offer enriching opportunities.  What more could anyone ask for?

Many of us are transplants from other places, choosing to live here because we'd rather not wrestle winters of snow and sleet, or slog through the ravages of hurricane season.  We come from all over the world- leaving friends and family back home, going out on an emotional and financial limb to relocate, and unsettling ourselves just to have to re-settle ourselves.  But it's worth it.  We're here because...it's better.  

This immigrant story is also true for many plants in today's California landscape.   Thanks to an eminently hospitable environment for all types of flora, the state enjoys a wide ranging plant palette from ferns to cacti. In fact, most of the plants we use in our gardens are from distant places: from China- to Chile- to South Africa.  California gardeners have the incredible good fortune to be able to create landscapes using plants from all over the world, which are happily adapted to our climate and soils.

...yet another good reason to live here.

Below are a few new plant introductions, spotted at the NorCal trade show on February 14th, 2013:

Yucca Bright Star 'Walbristar'

Helleborus orientalis 'Golden Sunrise'

Kalanchoe 'Fantastic' 

Agave 'Blue Flame'