Go oxalis where the best roses are
Thursday February 28th 2008, 12:36 pm
Filed under: Knit

Silkie Lunasea in embossed diamonds, flattenedI finished the scarf! I decided to block it, knowing that in the damp climate it’s going to, that won’t last long, but that’s okay. The edges won’t curl quite like stockinette, but they’ll have some energy to them rather than the sedentary version I’ve created here. It’ll fit into the envelope better if it’s flat.

oxalis and treeA few years ago, I looked at my inability to be out in the sunlight and gave up and hired someone to do some work in my yard. When I looked out the window, he had started ripping out my oxalis. I ran.

“But they are WEEDS!” he spluttered, glancing down the street at the neighbors’ houses, afraid, I’m sure, that they would see that he had not done his job if he left them there. What if they recognized his truck?

“Not to me they’re not,” I told him. “They sell these where I grew up.”

He had a really hard time with that, but it was my house and my call and he reluctantly let it go. That oxalis patch–it’s never tried to spread, it has stayed in its own proper space for the 21 years we’ve lived here–was in full bloom and was part of what charmed me into wanting to buy this house. It stays.

There’s a fellow who runs Lanai, a tiny hole-in-the-wall flower shop on the main commercial drag, surrounded by a small but delightful oasis of trees and freely blooming oxalis amongst the concrete of El Camino. Someone else likes my cheerful yellow free-bloomers, I guess. There’s space for a display case, a counter, a chair for the guy, and a fridge in back. The owner is passionate about what he does, and he’ll tell you his roses cost more, but they’re local and they last far longer than the imported ones do. Lanai roses

These are from my Valentine’s flowers. Thank you, Richard–I love it when people support the little guy who’s trying to make a difference.


6 Comments so far
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Beautiful flowers – all of them. Flowers are like music; whatever moves you is what is best.

Comment by Channon 02.28.08 @ 1:14 pm

Here here! I always support the little guy who is local whenever I can. Especially at the supermarket and at the grocer there are a lot of things going on on that front. I do the same as much as possible with yarn and beads. Every little bit helps. Thanks for doing it! A little bit now makes a huge difference in the long run.

Comment by Vicki 02.28.08 @ 2:24 pm

Yours must be the only well behaved Oxalis patch I’ve ever heard of! The flowers are lovely. 🙂

Comment by Romi 02.28.08 @ 6:49 pm

I do love Free Blooming Flowers!! Ive got several previously planted Daffodils and Irisis that have taken over the areas where they were planted and I love to see them grow and bloom! I to try to support thewe “Little guy” whenever I can especially since there are so few of them where I live. Excuse me now, I have to go love on a cranky cat before she gets to much more cranky 🙂
Have A Nice Day!!!

Comment by Danielle from SW MO 02.29.08 @ 8:02 am

It’s always fascinated me that plants that grow in abundance, with little effort, are called weeds while those that require effort are called, well, desirable. As for oxalis – the most “unkempt” house in our neighborhood right now has the most beautiful lawn – a field of yellow. Meanwhile, I’m searching the internet to find where the wildflowers are blooming in my area. Hmmmmmm.

Comment by Linda W 02.29.08 @ 8:13 am

Right now, and every spring for 20 years, my front yard is in full bloom of yellow oxalis. It buries everything else in the yard. The out door kitty makes cozy nests in it where he thinks he is invisible. Then suddenly (it seems) one day all the oxalis is flat and brown. Alex spends a few days tearing it out and the rest of the plants visibly sigh and relax and enjoy their reclaimed space for another season. But for that short while in Spring our yard is the brightest on the block and w love it.

Comment by Gretchen 03.05.08 @ 3:31 am



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