Operation Snakeweed Reseed is a Success (Shallow Thoughts)

Operation Snakeweed Reseed is a Success

We don't get as many wildflowers here as I'd like, but one reliable bloom every year in late summer was the snakeweed.

Terrible name. In fact, it's quite a nice plant, which around early September explodes into a carpet of yellow flowers.

Until 2023-2024, when a severe drought managed to kill it all. Until then, I'd thought snakeweed was the one plant that could survive anything — we'd had modest droughts before and the snakeweed had come through okay — but two years of no rain at all, all summer, was too much, and that September, there was nothing where I was used to seeing a golden carpet.

When they didn't return in 2024 either, I mounted Operation Snakeweed Reseed. There was still plenty of snakeweed growing around White Rock — just not in our yard. So starting in October when the snakeweed bloom was well over, any time I went hiking or mountain biking, or biking along the path to the market or library, I stopped along the way and collected some seeds to be distributed in the yard.

I generally haven't had a lot of luck with scattering wildflower seeds, except for four-o-clocks which are doing very nicely. But this year, I saw a lot of small plants that looked like snakeweed. Would they bloom?

Yes! We're not quite back to the old golden-carpet status, and the area I used to call "Snakeweed Flats" isn't quite worthy of that name yet; but there are lots of golden blooms in the yard and it's looking very nice.

I'm happy to have the snakeweed back. With any luck, it'll spread since we've had okay rains this year. I'll do a little more seed scattering this year when the bloom is over just to make sure.