Thursday 25 June 2009

Gardening is changing my life!

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After doing the weekly shop at Asda I bought a gardening magazine called ‘Grow Your Own’. There was a coupon inside for free tomato food! Today I went to Redruth and after visiting a fabric shop with a friend, where I bought very little (not like me at all!) I went to get my free bottle of tomato food and bought another gardening magazine on the way. This one was called ‘Kitchen Garden’. Both were very informative and there is a lot to be learnt from them with very interesting articles on herbs and soft fruit. But the point is I haven’t bought a gardening magazine in the last five years! Usually I’ll buy a patchwork or embroidery magazine! I am becoming obsessed with gardening! Is this because for the first time in a long time the garden is being fairly productive? Or because I have more time to devote to gardening? Whatever it is I’m having fun and isn’t that the main thing!

The lilies were yellow and although today was not the hot and bright sunny day they forecast it was dry and a tad on the humid side. This was just enough to make the blossoms open. DSCF0001 But doesn’t this strike fear into one’s heart. The sight of these flowers makes me rush out like a mad woman and rip out the offending plant wherever I can find it. And that is half the trouble that the roots cannot always be found, and even if found they run across the garden for miles. Leave only a tiny bit of root and it will be back fourfold! DSCF0003 I’m talking about Columbine or Bindweed! Such a pretty flower with such a pretty name but Bindweed describes it best. It winds itself in and out of plant stems, stalks and branches and slowly strangles them. Each year I fight a losing battle with this plant but at least it never gets a complete hold! There is no way that I will ever be able to eradicate it from the back wall which is a Cornish stone wall covered in ivy and campanula, and growing several hazels and a rhododendron in the top of it. I am going to have to look upon it as my cross to bear and be thankful that I don’t have any in the main borders!

10 comments:

  1. Um, I think you might mean morning glory instead of columbine. Bindweed is far more agressive. It can kill corn plants in the field, and pull the plants together.

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  2. Aaaaaaaah - I have been yanking the stuff out of my allotment today before those innocent white flowers set seed !!! I am slowly winning the battle but don't think I will ever see the back of it :(

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  3. Ever since we decided to pay extra for the apartment unit that included 2 small plots of land, I think gardening gradually got a hold of us until we realized that it is not a home without a garden! I've gotten past the magazine madness but not quite yet over the seed hoarding. I've already sent out orders to Bakers Creek and Seed Savers...for next year's planting. That's how weak I am!

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  4. I wrote on someone's blog the other day that if I found bindweed on my property, I would move! I fought and fought this plant on my last property in Pennsylvania -- a losing battle. I just gave up and stopped gardening in that plot after a point. The other nemesis -- stinging nettle, encroaching from the other side. Now, I have neither and I can deal with all other weeds.

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  5. I love gardening magazines. When I'm unable to get out in the garden or to the allotment because of bad weather they are invaluable for getting my gardening fix.

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  6. Valeri, I am addicted to garden books and magazines - partly because I love to read. I started gardening by reading about it, it took a long time before I actually enjoyed the weeding etc! But the greatest enjoyment is being able to share our garden with like minded friends around the world.

    Best wishes Sylvia

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  7. AnnF actually I meant Convolvulus but I've always called them Columbine, in error!
    Anna I too will always have it with me! Janet you are so lucky!
    Jo and Sylvia that is what is so nice about magazines. They are there to inspire, cheer and motivate!
    Rowena I end up with loads of packets of seeds that are all half used! What does one do with them? Val

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  8. I am glad you enjoy your garden so much and blotanical and blogging friends add to the ierest. I too have probems with Bindweed. Some years ago I visited Lamorna garden at St Mawes and happened to speak to the head gardener as he was pulling bindweed. I asked how bes to get rid of it and he said he just pulls it when he sees it and that it is particularly difficult to get rid of. I have tried systemic weed killer but little if any effect so i now just harvest when i can and that is one of my next jobs. I really hate it getting into clematis especially if my husband thinks he can help as he can't tell the difference and I hav lost some clematis with his enthusiasm over the years.

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  9. Wow, this just sent me scurrying to find info on bindweed in Ontario -- I knew it was a problem, but not how much of a problem.

    Just two snippets from the field bindweed fact sheet: "The seeds have a hard, impermeable seed coat, and can remain dormant in the soil for 20 yrs. or more." and "After the first growing season, the roots of a single plant may cover an area 3 m in diameter and produce up to 25 daughter plants. Roots of older plants may occupy an area 6 m in diameter and several metres in depth if soil is quite permeable."

    And they look so pretty. Shiver. Be very, very afraid.

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  10. Joanne and Helen you have confirmed what I knew. Bindweed is the pits! I have been told that if you can stop it flowering it weakens the plant. I have yet to prove that one! Val

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