In driving around Oregon you will see, on the side of the road, many kinds of wildflowers. One that is especially pretty is the everlasting pea.
For the last four years, I have gathered seeds from these roadside plants in an attempt to grow some here on the ranch.
I planted them in the spring by poking hundreds of them into the ground next to our road. Nothing happened, for 3 years in a row.
So in February 2013, I researched the subject and found that one has to “score” the seeds (scratch them to break through the waterproof outer barrier) or they won’t start to grow. So I scored hundreds of these tiny little seeds, and planted them in little seedling starter pots indoors. I had about 100 of them sprout. in April of 2013 I planted all of them, along our driveway so they can grow on our board fence. I watered them up until July, but then health problems prevented me from taking any further care of them. They were on their own from then until now. They produced no blooms at all during 2013.
About half of them died. The rest of them are thriving all by themselves, with no further help from me. I let the area near the fence go wild — long grass and blackberries and big thistles have taken over. So I am cutting all the weeds from around these everlasting peas, and running strings up to the fence so they get the idea and start climbing on something other than the tall grass and weeds.
Today while trimming back the weeds, I found the first blossom from the everlasting peas I planted last year. Happiness!
Twelve years ago, Marie and I planted four baby apple trees in a spot near the house. They have grown up and are now heavy with apples that are ripening.
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