Sparaxis
@dgfridley.bsky.social
Living the Great Simplification, energy systems scientist, food grower, dog and cat dad, genealogist, plant and nature lover, history and archeology reader, and love a good nap
Things I see walking the dog: this was a new one for me--the #CaliforniaNativePlants Navarretia squarrosa, aka California stinkweed. Though it lives up to its name, the shape and flowers are actually quite striking🌱
July 28, 2025 at 2:43 PM
Things I see walking the dog: this was a new one for me--the #CaliforniaNativePlants Navarretia squarrosa, aka California stinkweed. Though it lives up to its name, the shape and flowers are actually quite striking🌱
"Naming the Dead" series will air on NatGeo TV (US) starting on Sunday 2 Aug, streaming on Hulu, presenting 6 actual Doe cases solved using investigative genetic #genealogy by the pioneering DNA Doe Project of California. They continue to do incredible work! www.detpress.com/natgeo/shows...
National Geographic
www.detpress.com
July 27, 2025 at 9:30 PM
"Naming the Dead" series will air on NatGeo TV (US) starting on Sunday 2 Aug, streaming on Hulu, presenting 6 actual Doe cases solved using investigative genetic #genealogy by the pioneering DNA Doe Project of California. They continue to do incredible work! www.detpress.com/natgeo/shows...
A great benefit to growing #CaliforniaNativePlants is attracting native insects. This local selection of Achillea millefolium 'Sonoma Coast' has dense green foliage and short compact blooms and is now covered in insects, including this beautiful Acmon Blue butterfly 🌱 #gardening #butterflies
July 13, 2025 at 3:27 PM
A great benefit to growing #CaliforniaNativePlants is attracting native insects. This local selection of Achillea millefolium 'Sonoma Coast' has dense green foliage and short compact blooms and is now covered in insects, including this beautiful Acmon Blue butterfly 🌱 #gardening #butterflies
Salvia forskaehlei, native to Bulgaria and Türkiye, has one of the most intricate colorings of any salvia I've seen. It glows in shade but looks more washed out in sun. The basal rosette is deciduous in winter and quite drought tolerant in a #summerdry garden. 🌱 #gardening
July 10, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Salvia forskaehlei, native to Bulgaria and Türkiye, has one of the most intricate colorings of any salvia I've seen. It glows in shade but looks more washed out in sun. The basal rosette is deciduous in winter and quite drought tolerant in a #summerdry garden. 🌱 #gardening
Salvia africana from the #summerdry area of S. Africa's Cape grows about 4-5ft and is a welcome early summer bloomer. The calyxes are colorful even after the bloom is done. The tea has numerous medicinal uses #gardening 🌱 #salvias
July 9, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Salvia africana from the #summerdry area of S. Africa's Cape grows about 4-5ft and is a welcome early summer bloomer. The calyxes are colorful even after the bloom is done. The tea has numerous medicinal uses #gardening 🌱 #salvias
For anyone unfamiliar with the geoengineering work of Western pocket gophers, here is a before pic (early May) of a lush field and an after pic in early July of their summer efforts. And why raised beds with hardware cloth beneath is a must for all veggies #gardening 🌱
July 4, 2025 at 4:15 PM
For anyone unfamiliar with the geoengineering work of Western pocket gophers, here is a before pic (early May) of a lush field and an after pic in early July of their summer efforts. And why raised beds with hardware cloth beneath is a must for all veggies #gardening 🌱
I originally planned to grow a Capparis spinosus/caper bush to brine my own capers but realized I was too lazy to get up early and harvest the small buds everyday. So I just enjoy the flowers. 🌱 #gardening
July 4, 2025 at 4:07 PM
I originally planned to grow a Capparis spinosus/caper bush to brine my own capers but realized I was too lazy to get up early and harvest the small buds everyday. So I just enjoy the flowers. 🌱 #gardening
Dianella tasmanica has the most striking berries in the dry shade of a #summerdry garden. Without irrigation, the rhizomes spread slowly and manageably. The flower is dinky but almost as striking. 🌱
June 29, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Dianella tasmanica has the most striking berries in the dry shade of a #summerdry garden. Without irrigation, the rhizomes spread slowly and manageably. The flower is dinky but almost as striking. 🌱
Aloe/Aloiampelos striatula from S. Africa is one of the cold-hardiest, surviving our Great Freeze of 2013 at 23F/-5C and reportedly even hardier. It sprawls and climbs and treats you with a vivid display in late spring. 🌱 #succulents #summerdry
June 12, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Aloe/Aloiampelos striatula from S. Africa is one of the cold-hardiest, surviving our Great Freeze of 2013 at 23F/-5C and reportedly even hardier. It sprawls and climbs and treats you with a vivid display in late spring. 🌱 #succulents #summerdry
Things I see walking the dog. Today was #CaliforniaNativePlants (tho not endemic) Lonicera involucrata smothered in Himalayan blackberry. It truly deserves its common name of Bracted Honeysuckle 🌱
May 18, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Things I see walking the dog. Today was #CaliforniaNativePlants (tho not endemic) Lonicera involucrata smothered in Himalayan blackberry. It truly deserves its common name of Bracted Honeysuckle 🌱
Plectranthus zuluensis is from summer-rainfall areas of S Africa but is a good shrubby plant for dry shade in #summerdry gardens since it is so drought-tolerant. It propagates very easily and blooms in late spring/early summer 🌱
May 18, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Plectranthus zuluensis is from summer-rainfall areas of S Africa but is a good shrubby plant for dry shade in #summerdry gardens since it is so drought-tolerant. It propagates very easily and blooms in late spring/early summer 🌱
"Digiplexis" was sold as a cross of Digitalis purpurea and Isoplexis canariensis, but DNA shows Isoplexis is actually a Digitalis, so all is well in the cross world. The plant is sterile, so no volunteers, but it's less tender than the D. canariensis 🌱
May 18, 2025 at 3:38 PM
"Digiplexis" was sold as a cross of Digitalis purpurea and Isoplexis canariensis, but DNA shows Isoplexis is actually a Digitalis, so all is well in the cross world. The plant is sterile, so no volunteers, but it's less tender than the D. canariensis 🌱
This Leptospermum scoparium aka Mānuka (of the honey fame) was crushed for years under Phoenix fronds but was liberated last spring. This year it's putting on a great show! 🌱
April 26, 2025 at 6:41 PM
This Leptospermum scoparium aka Mānuka (of the honey fame) was crushed for years under Phoenix fronds but was liberated last spring. This year it's putting on a great show! 🌱
Things I see walking the dog. Today it was #CaliforniaNativePlants Iris douglasiana, growing on the roadside amid poison oak and annual grasses. 🌱
April 24, 2025 at 9:10 PM
Things I see walking the dog. Today it was #CaliforniaNativePlants Iris douglasiana, growing on the roadside amid poison oak and annual grasses. 🌱
I inherited this orchid almost 20 years ago and put it outside under an oak tree. No repotting, pruning, or fertilizer, only some water every few weeks in summer. I'm totally impressed at its hardiness! 🌱 #orchid
April 23, 2025 at 7:16 PM
I inherited this orchid almost 20 years ago and put it outside under an oak tree. No repotting, pruning, or fertilizer, only some water every few weeks in summer. I'm totally impressed at its hardiness! 🌱 #orchid
Ixia maculata is a popular S. African bulb for winter-rainfall gardens, typically orange to yellow, but bred into a range of colors. 🌱 #summerdry
April 19, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Ixia maculata is a popular S. African bulb for winter-rainfall gardens, typically orange to yellow, but bred into a range of colors. 🌱 #summerdry
Keckiella antirrhinoides is a #CaliforniaNativePlants from the deserts and chapparal of SoCal, but manages quite well with 40" of rain in NoCal. It goes summer deciduous, but regreens quickly when the rains return. 🌱
April 19, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Keckiella antirrhinoides is a #CaliforniaNativePlants from the deserts and chapparal of SoCal, but manages quite well with 40" of rain in NoCal. It goes summer deciduous, but regreens quickly when the rains return. 🌱
Yesterday I was lusting after @duanenoland.com 's Lupinus cericatus 'Cobb Mt' and thinking 'I should grow lupines' (being just 30 miles from Cobb Mt), and lo and behold, today I discovered a wild Lupinus bicolor! First ever. I'm going to try to find L. cericatus this fall #CaliforniaNativePlants 🌱
April 8, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Yesterday I was lusting after @duanenoland.com 's Lupinus cericatus 'Cobb Mt' and thinking 'I should grow lupines' (being just 30 miles from Cobb Mt), and lo and behold, today I discovered a wild Lupinus bicolor! First ever. I'm going to try to find L. cericatus this fall #CaliforniaNativePlants 🌱
Ixia dubia is similar to the more common Ixia maculata, but lacks the central "star" of the black ring. It's a S. African native from the winter-rainfall western Cape. The orange-tinged yellow is brilliant 🌱 #summerdry
April 7, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Ixia dubia is similar to the more common Ixia maculata, but lacks the central "star" of the black ring. It's a S. African native from the winter-rainfall western Cape. The orange-tinged yellow is brilliant 🌱 #summerdry
Euphorbia lambii is tree native to the forest margins on Gomera in the Canary Islands. It is tender beyond a few degrees of frost. If you grow it, be ready to pull up volunteers from a 20-ft radius since the seeds are ejected with force. The cyathia are favorites with bees 🌱 #CanaryIslandsEndemic
April 6, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Euphorbia lambii is tree native to the forest margins on Gomera in the Canary Islands. It is tender beyond a few degrees of frost. If you grow it, be ready to pull up volunteers from a 20-ft radius since the seeds are ejected with force. The cyathia are favorites with bees 🌱 #CanaryIslandsEndemic
Moraea bipartita is a S. African bulb native to both summer- and winter-rainfall areas. The intricacy of the nectar guides is fascinating. 🌱 #summerdry
April 6, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Moraea bipartita is a S. African bulb native to both summer- and winter-rainfall areas. The intricacy of the nectar guides is fascinating. 🌱 #summerdry
Dendriopoterium menendezii is an endangered shrub endemic to Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands. It grows quite well in N Cal and does volunteer readily. The flower stalks are subtle in pink. Dead leaves are persistent, so it does take a bit of grooming. 🌱 #summerdry #CanaryIslandEndemic
April 4, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Dendriopoterium menendezii is an endangered shrub endemic to Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands. It grows quite well in N Cal and does volunteer readily. The flower stalks are subtle in pink. Dead leaves are persistent, so it does take a bit of grooming. 🌱 #summerdry #CanaryIslandEndemic
Calandrinia menziesii, aka Red Maids, is a cute #californianativeplants annual that is often lost among invasive weeds (talking to you, filaree!) This one managed to find a place of its own🌱
April 4, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Calandrinia menziesii, aka Red Maids, is a cute #californianativeplants annual that is often lost among invasive weeds (talking to you, filaree!) This one managed to find a place of its own🌱
This Melianthus major, a native of South Africa, topped out at 15 ft this year. The flowers are a favorite of the Hooded Oriole, which spends the spring and summer here. The plant started as a volunteer in the compost pile, so I moved the compost pile. 🌱 #summerdry
April 4, 2025 at 4:09 PM
This Melianthus major, a native of South Africa, topped out at 15 ft this year. The flowers are a favorite of the Hooded Oriole, which spends the spring and summer here. The plant started as a volunteer in the compost pile, so I moved the compost pile. 🌱 #summerdry