Sowing wildflowers

Happy Spring Equinox! A week ago, spring definitely came bursting in as the frosts vanished as abruptly as they had come. Yellow flowers suddenly appeared on a shrub against a east-facing wall, while its fellow on a south-facing wall was still only dried twigs. Lantana along a west-facing wall was re-sprouting, while the standalone ones were frost-damaged twigs. The microclimates at my place were becoming quite evident! A new carpet of mysterious sprouts had appeared in the parsley-scallion patch - what could they be? Tombstone roses were sending out new shoots while the Trees for Tucson trees were clearly alive but had neither leaf buds nor leaves.

Today, the Desert Willows from Trees from Tucson are sprouting green at their base.  I aerated their soil and put wire fencing around the trunks to guard against nibbling rabbits. The carpet of mysterious sprouts are identifying themselves as the children of the Vanilla Ice sunflowers planted last fall and permitted to self-seed. They are truly everywhere, poking out from the veggies plot, between the landscaping pebbles and somehow even transported over the gate into the front yard (by wind or shoes, I imagine).  Perhaps they can be transplanted to yet other nooks. 

As Angelina and I hiked along the wash this afternoon, I looked at all the native plants with new eyes.  What grows is adapted to its location; what doesn't should be planted elsewhere.  If not in full sun, then partial sun or shade.  Later, following the advice of my gardening books, I excavated berms and water channels on the southwest side of the house and broadcast wildflower seeds over the area.  Like the farmer who sowed his seed, I'll watch to see what comes up from this. I am struck by the parallels between the parable of the farmer and the sustainable gardening books I've been reading over the last year or two: "Sowing Seeds in the Desert", "Gaia's Garden", "Desert or Paradise". There's the same awareness of earth, sun and water in Biblical times as now, everywhere over the globe.