Observations in a Small Garden: The Unexpected Weed

Miner’s lettuce (Claytonia perfoliata) overtaking native iris (Iris douglasiana) in the author’s garden

I was thrilled to see a few native plants re-emerging in my hillside garden upon the removal of the last of the smothering ivy and invading broom and black-berries. Most have been annuals, whose seeds may well have lain patiently under the ivy for a couple of decades; none of them were particularly exciting, but they served a purpose.

Pearly everlasting (Anaphalis margaritacea) was the first to appear; admittedly cosmopolitan in its distribution, it is actually listed in A Flora of San Francisco as belonging here, even in my own neighborhood. Its silvery foliage is attractive and the tiny flowers provide nectar for the smaller beneficial insects. Equally widespread is American vetch (Vicia americana), whose roots, I hoped, would help fix nitrogen in the soil.

I had set aside the topmost part of the hill for San Franciscan native plants—those that might have been found here in the San Miguel Hills before Europeans settled. I tucked in small plants of ceanothus, zigadene (Zigadenus fremontii), iris (I...