Psacalium

 

Psacalium is a genus of flowering plant in the  sunflower family. There are dozens of species of Psacalium, and even with the help of my clever plant app, I haven't been able to identify this particular one. 

We bought it during the pandemic at a public garden, when that was one of the few safe outings-- it was an innocent looking thing with pretty leaves in a gallon container.

Anyway, needless to say, it likes the rich flower beds and grows 8 feet tall, sending out roots in every direction. 

John gave me this lovely but poignant book for my birthday. Renkl writes an ecology editorial for the New York Times, and her column usually centers around the plants and animals in her Nashville backyard. 

Her neighborhood sounds like ours, with massive box houses and sterile landscaping replacing the modest bungalows and established yards. To the chagrin of some neighbors, she's left her property to nature, covered with native trees, shrubs, weeds and flowers and teeming with all types of insects, nesting birds, animals and amphibians. Even a 6 foot rat snake makes a home in her yard. 

I recently realized, I just don't have the strength or sheer willpower anymore to keep Mother Nature under my heel with chemicals and backbreaking work. 

Maybe our yard will evolve into something like hers, without the snake! Becoming the old people on the corner who have "let things go" on their big wasted lot that could hold a row of townhouses. This is considered rather selfish and elitist behavior in our silly Seattle. So be it. I'm listening to the robin, house sparrows and finches chattering away outside.