Abandoned Gardens Are Sad

Abandoned! 

The City Daily Photo Bloggers theme for October is "Abandoned." We can abandon almost anything. I wrote on this theme in May 2015 and featured many of our abandoned buildings. See "N" is for Neglected and Abandoned Buildings. I had to come up with something new for this post,  so I've decided to show you my abandoned gardens in Templeton. 

Photos of My Abandoned Gardens

In the photo below, you see what's left of an herb garden I planted about twenty years ago on a slope behind the house. 

Abandoned Herb Garden on Slope

Nature has a way of taking over when a caring gardener is no longer active. I had to abandon my gardens here after some major surgeries. Someone clears the weeds from around the edges during fire season, but there are still plenty hidden among the herbs. Most of what you see here are three varieties of sage left to do what they will. There are a few irises and they still bloom. Hidden from view are the santolina and lavender, which still hold their own. The oregano has almost been smothered by the sages, but manages to get its head into the sun enough to live. The rosemary has also survived. 

Perennial herbs are hardy. These plants have survived over a year with no irrigation. Of course when a flower bed with no perennial plants is abandoned, it will look like the one below. There may still be some rhubarb here if the drought didn't finally kill it, and some lemon balm may remain alive under the weeds. Now its mostly wild grasses, sow thistle, and mallows in season. 

Sometimes nature presents us with unexpected gifts, like this lupine flower that sprang up in the midst of the weeds on the slope. I actually planted lupine years ago, but it seemed to disappear. Some years it comes up and some years it doesn't. 

Here's yet another view of the abandoned herb garden on the slope. This shows you the lavender that was hidden in the other photo. It's only March in these photos, so lavender isn't blooming yet.  That bit of yellow near the left is a calendula -- the flower that keeps reproducing no matter what. See How Colorful Calendula Brightens My Garden All Year Long.

See what other City Daily Photo Bloggers have done with this theme.