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Saturday, June 25, 2011

Vine needs some space

I've started this year off badly in this planting bed. It really started last year when I let the Spanish flag vines overgrow everything in this spot, and although I think I weeded this early this spring, I haven't touched it in a while.


Now that I want to plant a new vine here, I need to get things back under control. How many different kinds of weeds can you spot?


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Well, there are about six that I can see right away, and I can guess a few more without even looking (violets).

To start things off, there's an Agastache foeniculum that I would normally try to save, but I've got about a dozen of these in pots and no idea where to put them, so this one is just going to get pulled:


It's a nice start to the weed pulling, because that plant smells so good!

Next there are several small "Indian wood oats":


It really aggravates me when I see these little seedlings producing their own seed already. I love the seeds on this plant, but enough is enough! I've got these things all over my yard right now -- they've become a weed for sure.

There's this I-don't-know-what-it's-called weed that is almost as tall as me:


I want to call it "snakeroot", but I know that's not right. I've got snakeroot weeds in other parts of my yard, both the regular green kind and the "chocolate" kind too. Whatever this is it always fools me in the spring, as it looks like echinacea when it's just emerging.

There's some Spanish flag vine in here too:


I'm going to pull it all. I'm not interested in saving any plants -- they're all coming out. I enjoy pulling weeds once in a while -- it's fun!

Unfortunately while I was pulling I grabbed something that was pretty much toward the "not fun" end of the spectrum. I wasn't sure what it was, but some sort of grassy plant, as I felt the sharp blades knifing into me as they slid over my palm. Yes, that was not a fun feeling.


This is the photo you get when you've gotten what is essentially a super-deep paper cut on your right hand and try to take a photo of it with your left hand. It's pretty impossible to aim, even with autofocus. Do they even make left-handed cameras?

Anyway, the pain subsided after I rubbed a little dirt into it (just kidding -- don't do that!) and I figured out who the culprit was:


A Miscanthus seedling! That explains it. I hate those little plants. Love the parent, but hate the offspring.

Anyway, I got all of the weeds out of the picture:


So I was ready to plant! Almost.

The vine will grow up, up, up this wire, onto the pergola "roof":


The problem is, I don't think there's enough room there to plant the vine I want to plant.


The sedge (which is "Ice Dance" by the way) has spread too close and is hogging all of the space. So I decided to dig out a clump of it:


That gave me the space I wanted to plant the vine. So I did.


It's a "Maypop" -- Passiflora incarnata. I got it last year, overwintered it in my greenhouse even though it's cold-hardy in my area, and now it's growing quite nicely. I'm pretty hopeful about getting some flowers this year, and I'm really looking forward to that because the flowers are amazing.

I am a bit concerned about the deer finding this vine and chomping away on it. I don't know specifically that they like Maypop, but since it's native I'm guessing they might. I don't think they get down into this planting bed, but I won't be surprised if they do -- the nice green vine may attract their attention once it gets a bit larger.


Anyway, I couldn't figure out where to put the sedge after I dug it up, so I just planted it right there.

Maybe that will convince the deer that there's nothing worth tasting over here...

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3 comments:

  1. Alan, Passiflora involucrata is from the Amazon Jungle while Passiflora incarnata is native to the temperate US. I presume you mis-read the ID.

    M

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  2. Looking great. Can't wait to see your maypop in bloom. Is the fruit edible like it is on the tropical varieties?

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  3. Yep, I linked to incarnata but typed "involucrata" for some reason. I'll fix it. Thanks for the catch!

    The fruit is supposedly edible.

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