Coyote Bush is one of those California native plants you either love or hate. I happen to love it. It’s dependable as all get out. It is huge on the wildlife value. But some people don’t like it. The Native Americans had many uses for this plant, from medicinal, to making arrow shaft, to building houses. They also called them “fuzzy wuzzy. “I love the seed heads. They look like feather dusters with long silky threads.
One of the most important jobs of this plant is to serve as a nurse plant, sheltering young plants that need shade and protection until they are old enough to stand on their own and it’s a great soil fixer-upper too!
white silky angel hair
silky angel hair
fuzzy wuzzy seeds
nurse plant for degraded soil
nurse plants for baby acorns
nurse plant for tender seedling
reviving tired soil
exhausted soil
breathing life into tired soil
resurrecting tired soil
oaks
shelters baby oaks
sheltering young oaks
Coyote Bush
fuzzy wuzzy seeds
tired soil, revived, made new
shelters baby oaks
@copyright Susan Taylor Brown
April 11, 2009
Yeah, I’m not much of a fan, but you’ve helped me see them in a new way. Maybe I’ll grow to like them, now that I know…
PS Happy Easter! I sent you a PM.
Happy Easter to you too!
Oh they can be so good for gardens. Here’s a great article about them: http://www.ptreyeslight.com/stories/may10_01/coyote_bush.html
If you need a hedge, they work for that too. I have two in the yard but I’m going to add some more. I’d love to see if I could get some quail to visit.
Happy Easter to you too!
Oh they can be so good for gardens. Here’s a great article about them: http://www.ptreyeslight.com/stories/may10_01/coyote_bush.html
If you need a hedge, they work for that too. I have two in the yard but I’m going to add some more. I’d love to see if I could get some quail to visit.
Yeah, I’m not much of a fan, but you’ve helped me see them in a new way. Maybe I’ll grow to like them, now that I know…
PS Happy Easter! I sent you a PM.
Susan, I’m enjoying your haiku, it’s one of my favorite forms. I’m always surprised at how much can be said with so few words.
In regards to Saturday post, I often wonder if my blog has anything to offer. I read some other blogs where people are commenting and almost seem to have formed a bond. Maybe because I only post on Fridays (full time teacher), I haven’t connected so much with the group. There are a few wonderful people who are encouraging, but I sometimes wonder if I should continue.
The other thing is that I’ve been spending so much time reading other people’s blogs that it’s caused two things to happen:
1. I haven’t been getting much writing done.
2. I start to feel like everyone’s writing is so much better than mine, why send anything out.
It seems like everyone is having so much more success than I am.
I used to submit much more often and was getting published a lot more, but that old self-doubt won’t let go and so I have almost given up. I start to tell myself that I should just write for me and not worry about sending it out just to get rejected. I write poems so the market is very tight and keep hearing how unlikely it is to get poetry published. Would my time be better spent baking bread and trying to find a hobby I enjoy? I don’t know. I stuggle with that too. Worrying about rejection really does take the fun out of writing.
So, I guess I’m saying all this because we all get down on ourselves and start thinking too much. You have more readers than you likely know, especially people like me who battles depression on a daily basis. I’m hoping you’re coming out with a new verse novel soon. I loved Hugging the Rock.
I typed this very fast so I hope it makes sense and doesn’t sound too foolish. I’ll post as anonymus just in case. : )
Whoever you are, thank you. Your words mean a lot.
It’s hard to take the worry out of being rejected, isn’t it? I know, and you probably do too, that the joy needs to come from the process. But I know that’s a hard thing to do. I had that thrill though tonight as I worked on haiku #12 – when I was looking for just the right work and it came to me and the whole poem came together and I remembered that this, this joy, is why I write.
I hope you find that joy for yourself.
Thanks for your kind words about Hugging the Rcok. Though my next book coming out isn’t a verse novel, I am working on another one. 🙂
Whoever you are, thank you. Your words mean a lot.
It’s hard to take the worry out of being rejected, isn’t it? I know, and you probably do too, that the joy needs to come from the process. But I know that’s a hard thing to do. I had that thrill though tonight as I worked on haiku #12 – when I was looking for just the right work and it came to me and the whole poem came together and I remembered that this, this joy, is why I write.
I hope you find that joy for yourself.
Thanks for your kind words about Hugging the Rcok. Though my next book coming out isn’t a verse novel, I am working on another one. 🙂
Susan, I’m enjoying your haiku, it’s one of my favorite forms. I’m always surprised at how much can be said with so few words.
In regards to Saturday post, I often wonder if my blog has anything to offer. I read some other blogs where people are commenting and almost seem to have formed a bond. Maybe because I only post on Fridays (full time teacher), I haven’t connected so much with the group. There are a few wonderful people who are encouraging, but I sometimes wonder if I should continue.
The other thing is that I’ve been spending so much time reading other people’s blogs that it’s caused two things to happen:
1. I haven’t been getting much writing done.
2. I start to feel like everyone’s writing is so much better than mine, why send anything out.
It seems like everyone is having so much more success than I am.
I used to submit much more often and was getting published a lot more, but that old self-doubt won’t let go and so I have almost given up. I start to tell myself that I should just write for me and not worry about sending it out just to get rejected. I write poems so the market is very tight and keep hearing how unlikely it is to get poetry published. Would my time be better spent baking bread and trying to find a hobby I enjoy? I don’t know. I stuggle with that too. Worrying about rejection really does take the fun out of writing.
So, I guess I’m saying all this because we all get down on ourselves and start thinking too much. You have more readers than you likely know, especially people like me who battles depression on a daily basis. I’m hoping you’re coming out with a new verse novel soon. I loved Hugging the Rock.
I typed this very fast so I hope it makes sense and doesn’t sound too foolish. I’ll post as anonymus just in case. : )