Garden

Berkeley, Friday, April 10, 2026 0:54 AM

Gardens are one of those things where a picture would replace 400 words. I said 400 words, which is about one A4 page, because rarely spend a 1,000 or 2.5 pages per plant. Although it is plausible. And more than 1,000 words is completely possible to describe the garden.

I usually plant the seeds from what I eat, plus a few curiosities. So I have some avocado plants.

But despite the statement above, probably most of the plants are ornamental, including a tree, a Japanese Red Maple tree. That is one I bought in Christmas 2021.

I might describe each plant with detail at the end there are several, but not necessarily many. And each has their story of arrival or blossom.

Spring is definetely a green and colorful time. Some of those plants are not evergreen.

This post, which would be continuos would help me to identify some of the plants. Some of the plants, just showed up, which is I will describe. But I also I placed some mustard grains on a pot, I see some seeds sprouting there, but I do not know yet if those are from the mustard seeds. I placed more seeds than the mustard in that pot.

There is a plant, which now is on at least three pots. It grows quite tall for the pot. It has more or less long and narrow leaves, and pink flowers. During the fall it release a rounded, kind of a wire, of a brow color with white cotton like particulates. I do not know a clear name for the later one.

Well, while most of the plants have a store, which started either from a seed, or were a gift, or I bought it, in the case of this plant, it just started to grow.

Once in 2023, I got three or four pots from the street, east of Live Oak Park. That could have been the source.

I was curious then if it is an invasive plant or not. Now, using a few minutes, thanks to the technology of picture, language, and Gemini, I am a 98% confident that it is a fringed willowherb.

While it is weed. It is actually native.

one additional fact, I will add later what else I added to that pot a year or more ago. I placed some flowers in that pot, after then were reaching their end of life in a vase, which is short, maximum two weeks. Among those flowers, which I might have gotten near a dia de los muertos, were marigolds. The marigold continues to be generous flourishing through the year. Actually, the first bloom was in late December 2025. There is another marigold flower, which has been there for a while, and a few more buds.

Literally, flowers and weeds can grow together. But I will do some weed control of the willowherb when the time for that comes, with the rounded brown spirals.

I did some maintenance, likely around February or march. It looks cleaner. And now I see already four or so willowherb growing even in a distant pot from the original one.