Re-Gardening Week 3 – Targeting Plants

Hello everyone, welcome back! This week, I continued my investigation on plants with focused research on yarrow and creeping wild rye. I will explain more about the plants in the blog below.

Yarrow, with the scientific name of achillea millefolium, is a 3-feet flouring plant. Although it is native to Eurasia, it is also found in every habitat in California due to its ability to thrive in dry, open, sunny areas with temperatures more than 50°F. As a drought-tolerant plant, yarrow also does not need much maintenance to thrive. Its strong roots penetrate the soil to maintain an infiltration rate also makes it a great choice to be included in the garden’s new design.

Below is an image of yarrow. In addition to pink, it also has white, yellow, and red flowers.

Another plant I looked into this week is leymus triticoides, also commonly known as the creeping wild rye. It is native to California, and it is perfect for bioswales due to its roots’ ability to grasp soil and prevent soil erosion. One thing about the plant that caught my attention is its frequent mentions on multiple plant lists I’ve read for this week. This made me curious and start a deeper investigation into what makes creeping wild rye so special. However, I soon discovered that creeping wild rye is not a good choice for the garden because it grows in wet, often flooded soil. Although it is only 2′ to 4′ tall, creeping wild rye is an invasive species that will grow out of control. As a result, I crossed creeping wild rye out of my list and decides to find more plants next week.

Below is an image of creeping wild rye. Instead of grass/shrubs, it is often categorized as weeds.

That is it for this week. Thank you for reading! Next week, I will continue my research on plants and share potential candidates for the new design.