Gordon and the bean stalk
Hey gardening friends, do you know what this is (the first 4 pics)? It’s a tall plant with tiny white flowers that turn into the “fruit” below. Those turn into dark purple/black berries. The birds go bonkers for them and that’s how my friend Gordon, thinks that they got into his backyard in the first place. You can see the stems are quite substantial. These were all taken with my Droid Incredible using Camera360 Ultimate. If the filters are throwing you off, I can upload the original pics too.
#whoNeedsInstagram #camera360ultimate
June 25, 2012
This pops up in my garden too..it’s enormous but with a soft trunk. I hack it off when I see it.
June 25, 2012
Pokeweed, terribly invasive, though v poor folks in the south ate them, after some precautions: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytolacca
June 25, 2012
Its root goes down about 3 feet, so it can’t really be dug up, and in addition, the root is v brittle, so it breaks off, and each piece, yup, births another plant.
June 25, 2012
Some important historical American documents have been written in pokeweed ink btw.
June 25, 2012
and of course: Tony Joe White – Polk Salad Annie
June 25, 2012
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytolacca... I can’t get rid of it… I just pull/cut it back and try to keep it small, but I’ve entertained the idea of having it as a border plant because it grows so quickly….
June 25, 2012
He likes it. I don’t. Thanks guys.
June 25, 2012
It is v poisonous. Right, that is what I do (yes, it is in France!), make sure you cut the flowers off before berries form because the birds love them and will spread it that way. I keep them small though I have managed to carefully dig up one plant root completely–I felt like an heroine! One time heroine though, never will waste my time in that particular manner ever again.
June 25, 2012
Michelle Beissel that reminds me of a story that I read as a child… It was of this young girl battling with a huge beet she found growing in a parking lot…, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ellen_Tebbits....
June 25, 2012
sounds like a great story, will check it out soon, Jean Liss
June 25, 2012
info on eating pokeweed: http://waynesword.palomar.edu/ecoph24.htm
June 25, 2012
BTW, Jean Liss should I add you to my gardening/flowers circle?
June 25, 2012
Sure, I love gardening, I don’t have much time for it right now, so I could live vicariously through others.
June 25, 2012
Jean Liss if you haven’t already, you should circle Rajini Rao and Michelle Beissel because my garden/flowers pale in comparison. mary Zeman also posts nice pics too. Her hydrangeas are more mature and plentiful than mine. My hydrangea is only in it’s second year.
June 25, 2012
thanks, I’m moving this summer and the new house has a lot of shade, so I’m toying with the idea of crowd sourcing the landscaping… I think all I’m going to do initially is put in some bulbs for the spring flowers…
June 26, 2012
Chad Haney and Rajini Rao your gardening posts and photos are beautiful but they make me so jealous! I can’t wait for my nomadic post-doc lifestyle to end someday so I can actually have a garden, rather than crappy apartments every few years. In the meantime, thanks for filling up my stream with pretty pictures 😛
June 26, 2012
Buddhini Samarasinghe You can always adopt a grandmother… If you look into the senior services, you may find someone who could use a hand with their garden…. Also in the suburbs many public places are done by volunteers.
June 26, 2012
On the other hand, Buddhini Samarasinghe we are jealous of you because we can’t go traipsing into the wilderness to retrieve “exotic” fruit.