The Ruins

Dennis Kramb dkramb@badbear.com
Sat, 18 May 2013 18:18:49 PDT
A certain patch of my garden has been overrun with weeds for about 10
years.  It borders my pond, and covers an area approximately 25 feet by 10
feet.  I call it "The Ruins" because there is some statuary in the center
that has fallen over, and the jungle has covered it up.  I have no good
excuse for the 10 years of neglect.

Some weeds are woody trees, now quite tall.  Some weeds are thugs
originating from elsewhere in the garden like Silphium perfoliatum &
perennial Helianthus.  Some weeds are typical invasives like mustard garlic
& honeysuckle & wild grapes & poison ivy.

Well I finally tackled it and weeded nearly the whole patch.  Nearly.
Imagine my surprise to find some survivors persisting underneath that dense
jungle... holding on for the past decade!

1.)  Hyacinthoides hispanica.  (At least I think it's hispanica.)  Not just
persisting, but spreading... slowly.  With several stalks with seed pods
forming.  And a small clump of babies nearby... one of which also bloomed
but isn't forming any seed pods.

2.)  Bearded iris.  Not sure what cultivars.  But there are two patches of
probably tall-bearded varieties.  They won't bloom this year.  There are 2
fans on each clump.

3.)  Beardless iris.  Not sure what cultivar, or even what section.  But
it's *really* tall so I'm thinking Spuria.  It might bloom this year.
There are 3 fans on the clump.

4.)  Lonicera sempervierns sulphurea.  This one seems to have spread.  And
it was in bloom too!  I'm glad it's still there.  It's glorious!  I need to
provide it a sturdy trellis so it can really show itself off.

5.)  A strange dwarf woody shrub.  My first thought was Zanthoxylum.  I
remembered buying some 10+ years ago.  But now that I've Googled it, I
don't think it's Zanthoxylum.  My plant is thornless, amongst other
things.  It might be a weed!  But I'm keeping it.  It's cute.


I don't expect to find any other survivors.  But it was a pleasant surprise
finding several geophytes!

Dennis in Cincinnati



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