A View of My Garden in a Mirror 2010

Monday, October 31, 2011

Those naughty plants gone wild!

I inadvertently conducted a not so scientific experiment this last summer. I neglected my plants while working on a few hard scape projects and found out which plants behaved while I wasn't looking and which ones had a party!

The ring leader of the messy situation is a toss up between the Trumpet Vine and the Lady Banks rose vine. OK, so with "vine" in the name I should have known they were troublemakers. De' Nile is not just a river in Egypt, it is also running through my back yard!


Several years ago when I first started gardening a friend insinuated that my yard wasn't "lush". Gasp! Since she was an incredible gardener that I admired,  I took her clue and "lush" became the new goal. Where to start? Wine bottles as edging? Hey, I have seen that and it looks pretty cool! But I think what she meant was I needed to add more greenery and shrubs.  Does hoarding apply to shoving too many plants into a flower bed? I knew better. I took classes and studied all the topics to become the perfect gardener. Then I proceeded to go back to my old habits of planting for what looked good "now" and not "when they reach the label size". (Note, slap self.)

I planned on moving the plants each season as needed so I could enjoy "lushness" now! Back to the vines..... 
 
The trumpet vine managed to work it's way up through a portion of yard that is probably 20' wide and over the neighbors fence. As soon as the leaves fall off I will be doing some major cutting and pulling. It really is lush and green and if you don't get too close you would never notice that it is smothering all the well behaved plants.


Then there is the rose vine, Lady Banks. It has arching stems the little birds love to land on and bounce up and down. It is kind of cute from a distance so I let it be for the summer. However, with a closer look at the base, it too has taken over some of the more well behaved plants.



Another culprit is the Euphorbia 'Fireglow'. One of my friends mentioned that it could become a bit invasive when I first picked it up and plopped it in my cart. But at the time I thought it looked so yummy that I didn't care if it took over my whole garden. Hmmm, I guess I do care. I don't like it anymore and I want it gone! It doesn't clump like most well behaved Euphorbia's, this one is all over the place and scraggly looking.  Reminder to self: "overcome the initial euphor(b)ia of plant shopping and listen to your friends!" I will next time!

A mug shot of the Euphorbia 'Fireglow' that I borrowed from the internet.


The hard scaping is still in progress rain or shine.  I will give an update when it is finished! Did you know that if you take your glove off when you are working with wet concrete and then rub it back and forth on the concrete real quick to smooth it out, that eventually your fingers will start to burn and turn black? Yes, that is what will happen! Dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb! 


Tammy from Casa Mariposa , I would love to hear how your garden mosaic is coming along so we can compare war stories!


Here is a picture from Peaches world. She is obsessed with her own reflection so we got her a mirror! Notice the tongue prints!


Happy Halloween!

5 comments:

  1. This is the best surprise to begin a brand new day. A brand new, super amusing post from one of my personal, very, very favourite bloggers! You had me chuckling and chortling from the start all the way through to the end and, as usual, I felt really cheated when it came to an end, because I so enjoy your posts and they always seem to end far too soon. Not only are you a wonderful gardener, you're a wonderful writer as well. I cannot wait to see your completed project, Annie. I know we're in for an incredible treat! Peaches is too beautiful! No wonder she adores her reflection.

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  2. We only have so much time. Once you have the hardscape projects finished, your garden will really reach its potential. Good luck

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  3. Hi Annie Dear, Great post! Yes those vines sure have a way of taking over don't they? I suppose if you've got acres and acres this is a good thing but most of us don't. I love the photo of Peaches. She doesn't look "fat" at all--just well-loved. Yeah. I've been bitten by that euphoric euphorbia bug too. Dang things. :) Can it really be November already?

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  4. Hi Desiree, Ann and Grace!
    Thanks for stopping by my blog. Desiree, you are so sweet. I am glad you get my sense of humor! Grace, are you the friend that told me about the Fireglow? I think it was you or Connie. How's your new job? I had lunch with Vickie and Lynda today and we were talking about you and how busy you are. Hope to see you soon!
    Annie

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  5. Hi!! Once I finish my mulching and my daughters soccer tournaments are over, I want to finish my mosaic!! My goal is to have it done by Thanksgiving. I also have a trumpet vine that I cut back severely last fall. My neighbors actually thought I had gone crazy and killed it. It bounced right back. You have to garden mafia-style if you have a trumpet vine: dey gotta get whacked!

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