Click below to listen to my 2 min. Garden Bite radio show: Ground plum and the constant desire for more plants!
I recently posted on Facebook my admission of an addiction to plants! A friend responded:
Yup! Sums it up nicely! So how am I connecting ground plums and the desire for my plants? Well, I saw this darling and had to get it….
Last year I planted this darling little native called Ground Plum. Latin name not quite as pretty, Astragalus crassicarpus… is fabulous for bee lawns. This year one of the plants produced one actual “plum”. Truth is, it’s not a plum.
It’s a low-growing, spreading legume that prefers full sun and well-drained soils. It works as a ground cover, and in rock gardens due to its short height and preference for dry soils. It grows to about 12 inches but that is spread out, not up. It has small pinnate leaves and, in spring, clusters of pea-like blossoms with hues of lavender, purple and white. The thick-walled seed pods rest on the ground and look like plums. The Dakota and Lakota Indians ate them but I wouldn’t really suggest it.
And this little annual re-seeder is also a native. Partridge pea. Adorable…
Bottom line: I see plants, I fall in love!