Thursday, September 6, 2012

The Giving Grass

or Generosity

One day you're talking about baseball, summer, the slow growth of grasses, and all things leisurely, and the next (or so it seems) the UNM Lobos are winning (winning!) their first football game of the season, the grasses are exploding into bloom, and you're frantically shouting, "Slow down!  Everybody just slow down!"

Licorice mint (Agastache rupestris) in the upper foreground; in the central bed, blue grama grass (Bouteloua gracilis) and angelita daisies (Tetraneuris acaulis); across the path, sand lovegrass (Eragrostis trichodes).

Well, honestly, not quite that last bit.  While I've basked in summer, I am ready to be done with 95°F temperatures and looking forward to the sleepy, satisfied warmth of a New Mexico autumn; I'm eager to move on and enjoy sunshine again.  But the grasses have definitely exploded (and the Lobos have definitely won!).*  The grasses may even have gone above and beyond the call of duty.


They've been an experiment this year:  an attempt to create less of a traditional "layered" look in my small garden and to aim for something more airy, open, western, and outdoors-y; a look that focuses on texture as much as color and that plays enthusiastically with light.  Overall I'm beginning to be pleased, though the rule of planting in threes should probably be broken for sand lovegrass. 

I actually find myself looking forward to winter because of that grass.  Winter is my least favorite season—the remnant of too much time in Vermont spent aching in every cold, damp joint for every single one of those eleven frigid months a year.  Even in milder New Mexico, hedging myself against winter is still a chore.  The garden is one of my biggest safeguards, intended to be a place of light and enjoyment in the dormant season.

Light is the key.


The patio and the Adirondack chair sit on the north side of the garden, looking south.  As the sun begins to lower again it is starting to side-light the grasses; when winter comes it will light them from behind and within.

The angelitas could bloom into December.

I can't tell you how happy I am about that.  It's ridiculous how happy I am about that.  Because of grass.  Not even specially hybridized ornamental grass, but the same kinds of plain ol' grasses that grow wild in just about every open space in the state.  Most grasses are generous, I think.  They make lovely, gracious vehicles for other things:  like the way that silky thread grass gives shape to the wind so beautifully, or a bluegrass lawn invites cool, barefoot walking on sultry evenings.  The blue grama and sand lovegrass will magnify limited winter sunlight exuberantly.  They will make it sparkle as it scatters off every tiny seed; they will burnish it until it glows golden as it passes through their dry wintry leaves. 

I've brought some lovegrass bloom stalks inside the house as a "bouquet" and have been surprised at how fragrant they are.  Outside I'm not even aware of it, but inside, the sharp, sunny smell of green hay is unmistakable.  Maybe that's what's drawn more small butterflies to my garden this summer, even in another year of drought.

A fiery skipper (Hylephila phyleus) on Jupiter's beard (Centranthus ruber)

While the adults need nectar, the larvae of many skippers eat grass leaves.  For lawn owners they can be a pest, as the caterpillars' feasts can leave brown, dead patches.  Looking at the bank of sand lovegrass, I say, "Chow down, guys. Help me out."

A little generosity seems to be in order.

________________________
* But then, the Lobos have won one game in each of the last three years, too. 

22 comments:

  1. I like your garden makeover. I remember when you posted about pulling out some of your plants and rethinking the design elements. I'm ready for summer to be over, too.

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    1. Thanks, GirlSprout--I think I'm on the right track now, at any rate. Did summer just end suddenly today or what?!

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  2. Low autumn sun, that really golden light, shining through grass seedheads, has to be one of the most beautiful sights in a garden. You seem to have got your planting just right to get lots of that lovely effect Stacy, and it does indeed all look light and airy and natural. Beautiful! I hope it will ease your transition into winter. And thank you, you have introduced me to another new plant, Agastache rupestris, which I have rather fallen for. And it seems it is hardy here, which is a bonus! Oh dear, my already too-long list has just become even longer...

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    1. Just a few more weeks, Janet, and that beautiful light will be everywhere. Thanks so much for your kind words about the garden--it's taken me several years to figure out what I was aiming for, so it's extra helpful to hear that the plan is beginning to work. A. rupestris is a wonderful plant! The leaves have such a wonderful fragrance (in small doses), and it blooms for months and months. If anything could draw hummingbirds to Wales, agastache would be it...

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  3. From what I can see, you have done a great job reworking your garden. Just the hint of pathway in your pictures makes me want to jump through the computer so I can travel down it and see more of your garden. The grass is gorgeous lit from above/behind. I can just imagine running my hands along their seedheads.

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    1. Oh, thank you, Holley! Last year you and Dave had both mentioned the importance of not being able to see the whole pathway at once, and I hoped that semi-transparent things like grasses would obscure the view in that "teasing" way you suggested while keeping the airy feeling I want so much. Speaking from experience, running one's hands through the seedheads is very, very satisfying!

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  4. I've always thought of plants as being selfish, only interested in showing off and reproducing themselves. Thanks for suggesting otherwise.

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    1. b-a-g, it's possible that I might be anthropomorphizing a little?

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    2. Think I've been doing a bit of that myself... Thanks for your messages.

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  5. It really does seem like the season to slow down and grasses seem to emit that quality. I am not sure why since they grow so fast, but blowing in the wind they seem to say have a seat and take a load off. I think they look great in winter and with your beautiful light in NM, there is not a season grass would not look wonderful. Your photo under "Light is the Key" really expresses that. Great photo of the Skipper. Of all the butterflies I have photographed, I think Skippers are the best little models. I swear they just sit there to HAVE their photo taken. Little egotists. You did a really nice job on your garden design. It has grown in nicely.

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    1. Donna, I find watching grasses in the wind hypnotic, like watching a river or a fire. Between wind and light NM is really made to show them at their best! This is the first year I've really paid attention to butterflies, or remember seeing so much variety. I'll be sure to stroke the Skippers' egos whenever I can, to encourage more of that posing and preening. Who knew that others' egotism could come in so handy?

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  6. Love that shot of the grasses with the light shining through. Magical! Your garden looks very different from a year ago. What are the plans for next year?

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    1. Karen, I think the "mood" of the garden is right now, but the proportions aren't quite there yet--some things got much larger than I expected, like the sand lovegrass, and others didn't fill in well with my pared-back watering schedule (once every two weeks), so next year will be a tweaking year. I'm also thinking of replacing the pavers in the path with large, round river stones. I could soften the shape of the path, and I think they'd match the softer look of the grasses better. (And I think they'd feel like a massage on bare feet!)

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  7. I love the look of these grasses as opposed to ornamentals....I think you have achieved the effect of the airy light and open look of NM...I still am deciding what native grasses I want here and where I want them...grasses are a pleasure to see in fall especially this year when so little is blooming that should be...

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    1. Donna, I think some of the "official" ornamental grasses are almost structural plants, where these are pure texture. Grasses really shine through fall and winter in the SW, since they don't usually get matted down by rain or snow. After all the years I lived there, I know next to nothing about native grasses in the northeast. I'll look forward to seeing what you come up with!

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  8. Those grasses are fantastic -- their form and grace and the way they capture the light!

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    1. Aren't they lovely, sweetbay? They move beautifully in the wind, too--really billowy. And in the wild they're as common as dirt!

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  9. Your design is coming to fruition.

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    1. It's getting there, greggo--one sloooow season at a time.

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  10. Hi Stacy, the angelitas look quite overwhelming and very pretty. It's a shame we can't see when flitting about in the breeze. We don't have many grasses, I think we only have one but I would like to have a whole load of stipas and penisetums. I'm glad you posted a picture of the Centranthus Ruber as I have a seed tray of those and I've forgotten what they look like. I'll look forward to those.

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  11. what a fountain of sparkling light. What fun!

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  12. Lovely, kinetic shot of the grama, et al.

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