The closest stop sign is over a mile away and the first traffic light is 5+ miles down the road. A visit to the grocery store is almost 30 miles round trip. It's quiet here; just the sound of toads and coyotes at night. It seems very still, but when you look close there's always something happening. Read on about a few things we've noticed over the past few years.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

California Buckwheat

Here is a close up a very common plant in Gavilan Hills. The California Buckwheat.  This plant is native to SW USA and Mexico.  It grows on scrubby hillsides and dry river washes.  Our property is covered with them.  They bloom late winter through early spring with a white flower and as the summer goes on the flower dries into a beautiful rust color. 
This is my husband's favorite native flower.  It's popular among the bees because of it's nectar and I've even watched squirrels climb the stronger stalks and nibble the flowers off the bush.  Of course as a native, this plant is superbly drought resistant.  Some of the plants have grown 5' across and 3' high and can be quite dense.  We've weeded other plants away from this bush in designated areas of our property and used it for exclusive landscaping on certain hillsides.  It's really quite a pretty plant for all four seasons.

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