Weeds

I spent such a long time weeding today. In fact, I spend a lot of my gardening hours just weeding. A lot of it has been unwanted, ambitious plants. Two specific plants have been growing out of control: The “Showy Pink Primrose” (Oenothera berlandieri “Siskiyou”) and the darn hibiscus trees that seem to have originated from the neighbors. The primroses produce a lot more foliage than bloom, and the foliage begins to develop red spots (maybe because of drought or some other kind of stress?). I’ve seen this for sale at Lowe’s (it’s actually where the original owner of the house bought it; the ID tag was still in the front garden), and I just shudder when I see it and have the urge to warn customers, or at the very least offer them mine for free! The hibiscus trees must have a very extensive root system, because hibiscus seedlings grow everywhere. I’m punished when I neglect the weeding for too long, because then I end up having to pull out little trees instead of herbaceous seedlings. The hibiscus flowers are beautiful… but I can’t have thousands (yes, thousands) of trees in my front garden. Of course, there are lots of other weeds that I pull out, too. I decided today to identify the other weeds. Besides some hard-to-identify weeds and/or grasses, this is what I identified using Better Homes and Gardens' Weed Identification Guide along with good ol’ Wikipedia:

Creeping Charlie (Glechoma hederacea) is a broadleaf perennial. It grows like crazy in the lawn in the shade made by our deck. We usually just mow over it, but it really just needs to be pulled out. I think that next spring I’ll create a shade garden there, because I don’t know if we’ll get grass to grow there.

Creeping Charlie

Plantain

Plantain (Plantago major) is a broadleaf perennial that grows pretty much all over our property: in the gravel driveway, in the gardens, in the lawn, and in areas that I haven’t worked on yet (horrible soil). It has to be pulled out by hand.

I came across the Asiatic dayflower (Commelina communis) today. It has formed a huge mass in the little, shaded area between the side of our house and the fence that separates us from our neighbors (on one side, since we live on a corner). The flower is pretty, but it is small, scarce, and short-lived (hence “dayflower”).  I am planning on pulling it out and putting mulch down (or planting a pretty groundcover flower or shrub that controls weeds) since the idea of letting anything grow unchecked bothers me.

Asiatic Dayflower

Close-up of dayflower

Purslane (Purslane oleracea) is a broadleaf annual that grows in dry, sunny areas. It grows like crazy on one side of our driveway, where the soil is very hard. It takes forever to pull out. The stems can grow to be very thick and strong. I’ve read that this weed is preferable over some other weeds since its deep roots can bring up nutrients and moisture that neighboring plants can use. Also, all parts of this plant are edible, and have lots of nutrients, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants… I don’t think we’ll be eating this as a salad or stir-frying it, though.

Purslane

Purslane close-up

Mock strawberry (Potentilla indica) produces fruits that are edible but bland (according to my research; not based on firsthand knowledge). It is growing along with the purslane in the poor soil next to my driveway, but the purslane has been keeping it at bay, I think.

Mock strawberry

Thistle

There is some kind of thistle (“thistle” is a vague name, because I have no idea what type this is) growing in the driveway. I need to dig it up, because it attacks me almost every day with its spines.

White Clover is a broadleaf perennial that grows in my lawn and along with the purslane and mock strawberry. It adds nitrogen to the soil, so I guess that running it over with the lawnmower is good enough for me.

White Clover

Bindweed, in the same family as Morning Glories, is probably my arch nemesis. As much as I pull and pull, it keeps coming up. Even worse, it creates vines that wrap around whatever they come in contact with, which just makes it seem like it is strangling nearby plants. This first appeared in my zinnia garden (before it was a zinnia garden). I thought it was Morning Glory that the previous owner had planted, so I felt slightly guilty about digging it ALL out. Last summer it had lots of dark blue flowers. But I didn’t want it, so I dug it up it anyway, along with lots of poor soil. It spent about 5 weeks in the darkness of our garbage can, until I decided that the garbage men weren’t going to take it (I’ve since learned that they just take what’s bagged up, regardless of what’s in your garbage can). So out of the garbage can it came.

Bindweed

At this point, I figured that all of the weeds that had been in the soil were dead, so I just dumped the soil out where the Purslane usually grows. Well, it came back and is now taking over again. At this point, I still thought that it was just Morning Glory, so I took some and grew it in a pot that is now on my deck. I thought that it would be pretty in a smaller portion, and I thought it would be cool wrapping itself up my deck rails. 

Bindweed vine

Now, though… I feel like that person in the urban legend who took in an abandoned Chihuahua while on vacation in Mexico only to be told by the vet that it was actually a rat. I’m growing a weed in a pot on my deck!!