Sunday, July 19, 2009

Is This a Weed or Not??

My poor flower beds have been sorely neglected in the last few months. Got weeding done before vacation at the end of May and then it was no weeding. My one flower bed was horrid looking.

Last Sunday I decided that I was going to get some weeding done. Mother came over to help. I had some strange things showing up. Finally found out what this one weed was (okay, there was A LOT of it) - it was called Everlasting. The blasted things were about 5 feet tall and took some digging to get them out. They were kinda pretty, but were taking over the garden or at least one section of it. And there was also A LOT of goldenrod which I think I have finally got all of it out.

Today I got that one flower bed mostly done with the help of Mother again. Another thing that I have a lot of is morning glory (that was planted by the previous homeowner), field bindweed and black nightshade (AKA Deadly Nightshade). Sure wish I could get rid of those three. And also seem to have a lot of pokeweed thanks to the neighbors, there is a patch that they don't do anything about and it blooms and ends up in my garden. Also had some other weeds that I'm not sure about.

While sitting there weeding, I got so excited by finding a certain insect that I hadn't seen in a long time. (Yes, I tend to get excited by some of the silliest things). Mother asked what was going on. On one plant I found a praying mantis that was about 1 inch long. I hadn't seen them in such a long time. Then Mother was pulling out some nightshade and something fell on my leg and it turned out to be another praying mantis but this one was about 1-1/2 inches. I have two 'baby' praying mantis'.

Right now, my purple coneflowers are absolutely gorgeous. They are spreading like wildfire and I am loving it. But they are kinda taking over the black-eyed susans, blanketflowers, shasta daisies and coreopsis. And there are supposed to be some other wildflowers, but they don't seem to be found - probably still there, but just hidden. lol. This year I found something new that was to attract hummingbirds, but they haven't bloomed. They are still there.

Oh, and the hibiscus is loaded with buds. I cannot wait until the blooms open. This is the third year for it and it has grown so beautifully. Last year I was a little worried in the spring that it hadn't survived the winter, but I fretted for naught. It made it and was beautiful. This spring, I didn't worry but when weeding early on, I was excited to see it peeking up through the soil. It has grown big this year and it seems like there are about 100 buds. If all buds bloomed at once, you would not be able to see any green.

I need to get back out there and take some photos. Maybe I'll feel up to it Monday after work. As soon as I get some photos I'll share them.

3 comments:

Kathy said...

Now that you have your gardens all weeded and tidy would you like to come take care of mine?

LOL

GoldenAngelsWorks said...

Thanks for your comment on my blog about my necklace. I made them from seed beads. I guess I should add that to my post.

Alice said...

Even weeds have purpose so don't despair. : )
Alice

Blog Archive