Misnamed Plant - Garden Under Siege
And now a word about gardening....
Unless you are willing to battle an aggressive foe, fight for domination of your yard and flowerbeds and generally drive yourself nuts or have lots of room that you really don't care about letting go "wild" whatever you do DO NOT plant something called (get this) Obedient Plant. Because it is not. Obedient that is.
This invasive little sucker takes over in about one growing season. Oh yes it is tall and pretty and looks very nice at the back of the border. But it doesn't stay there. It crowds out everyone else in no time the little scene stealer. Little? Nope it is about 5 feet tall. It self seeds like crazy and I would be willing to bet that runners are also involved in its sinister plot to take over well, the plot.
Of course not knowing this, seeing it on some gardening show and in a few magazines where they forgot to mention its invasive properties the thing looked like the solution to a difficult spot in the yard. I have heavy clay soil and the yard is mostly a bog for most of the spring and fall in the summer the thing dries out completely (weeks like this not withstanding) to the consistency of the stoneware in my dish cupboard. I should have known that anything with a square stem was going to be trouble. The mint family all have square stems and they take over very quickly too. Except the catnip that the neighborhood kitties keep under control.
If the rain ever stops one thing on the list this weekend is cleaning out some flower beds.
The other pseudo problem solver that has become a problem is the herb Tansy. Very pretty too. Fern like leaf structure, pretty yellow flowers and a natural repellent for Japanese beetles so the garden books encourage you to plant it around the roses or anything else you don't want munched on. Problem is it grows like a weed, sends out runners every which way and takes over everywhere that the obedient plant did not.
One other plant that needs thinning out this weekend are the native tiger lilies. Them I do not mind, I can move them around the yard but right now you can't see the hydrangea and the bee balm is looking a little frightened.
You know, there can be disadvantages to having a green thumb... you end up with a jungle when what you were going for was cottage charm.
Unless you are willing to battle an aggressive foe, fight for domination of your yard and flowerbeds and generally drive yourself nuts or have lots of room that you really don't care about letting go "wild" whatever you do DO NOT plant something called (get this) Obedient Plant. Because it is not. Obedient that is.
This invasive little sucker takes over in about one growing season. Oh yes it is tall and pretty and looks very nice at the back of the border. But it doesn't stay there. It crowds out everyone else in no time the little scene stealer. Little? Nope it is about 5 feet tall. It self seeds like crazy and I would be willing to bet that runners are also involved in its sinister plot to take over well, the plot.
Of course not knowing this, seeing it on some gardening show and in a few magazines where they forgot to mention its invasive properties the thing looked like the solution to a difficult spot in the yard. I have heavy clay soil and the yard is mostly a bog for most of the spring and fall in the summer the thing dries out completely (weeks like this not withstanding) to the consistency of the stoneware in my dish cupboard. I should have known that anything with a square stem was going to be trouble. The mint family all have square stems and they take over very quickly too. Except the catnip that the neighborhood kitties keep under control.
If the rain ever stops one thing on the list this weekend is cleaning out some flower beds.
The other pseudo problem solver that has become a problem is the herb Tansy. Very pretty too. Fern like leaf structure, pretty yellow flowers and a natural repellent for Japanese beetles so the garden books encourage you to plant it around the roses or anything else you don't want munched on. Problem is it grows like a weed, sends out runners every which way and takes over everywhere that the obedient plant did not.
One other plant that needs thinning out this weekend are the native tiger lilies. Them I do not mind, I can move them around the yard but right now you can't see the hydrangea and the bee balm is looking a little frightened.
You know, there can be disadvantages to having a green thumb... you end up with a jungle when what you were going for was cottage charm.
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