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| Thorny weed |
I thought this was a crazy set of pictures.
It's a weed of some sort, covered in thorns. From a distance, it is oddly beautiful...but up close, OMG, it's insanely scary!
All purple and pink and blue and covered in white, tooth like thorns ready to snap if you stuck your hand in there. I swear, up close it looks like some sort of alien creature from a bad Sci-Fi/horror movie!
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| Crazy monster plant |
Today it's off to the farm. On today's list is to check the garden of course, first thing. I'm hoping the scaled back watering is working (I set it to every other day, at least while it's not the blazing heat of Summer, YET anyway). Then I need to dig holes. Holes for more trees. Holes for some bushes. The plan is to dig the holes (the hard part) in the cool of the morning and while the ground is still damp and then on Sunday, take a load of plants and bushes out there and get them in the ground. Then I'll spend the afternoon on the zen machine doing the mowing that I haven't done in two weeks.
More this afternoon, including a really neat new item we found.
Boy, that IS a wicked looking plant!
ReplyDeleteDon't forget to sink the plants a little lower than the surrounding area and mulch, mulch , mulch.
We are about as dry as you guys in the summer and since doing that--I rarely water. Mulch, mulch, mulch!!
:D
It is crazy scary huh? Ha. I wasn't able to get the holes dug, more on that later this week but yes, I will definitely take you up on your advice. I love not having to water that often, especially since we out there mostly on the weekends. I will remember mulch mulch mulch! And since your yard and garden are so beautiful when in bloom, I'll take that advice! :-)
DeleteThose weeds are really wicked. The root is large and very hard to get rid of because of the pain you get when you try to remove it. I suggest digging it out and keeping your hands to yourself!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking about what it would be like to dig up. I'll think I might just leave it alone, ha.
Deletethat plant looks like it is calling for a can of gas and a match! i can't wait to see what you found!
ReplyDeleteLOL! Definitely mean looking!
DeleteThat's one of those giant purple thistles! They are beautiful as long as you protect yourself.
ReplyDeleteI will have to keep an eye on it as it opens up. Thanks!!
DeleteThe plant looks very similar to a milkthistle that grows here in Ontario Canada.It is considered an ornamental dryscaping plant for drought like conditions in a garden.Ours grows to be over five feet, has purply mauve blooms and attracts certain birds and insects.The growth on your plant's photo seems much denser and thorns more pronounced.I think that may be due to your ideal climate and growing conditions in your region.Our garden club thinks of them as a "statement" plant.Chuckle.One person's weed is another's indiginous plant treasure.Regards, and good luck.
ReplyDeleteA statement plant? LOL! Love it! It could be that our conditions are just right for it. It is beautiful in a odd sort of way. Thank you for the info, much appreciated!!
DeleteYes, I was going to say it looks like a kind of thistle too. Funny how plants can have the same characteristics all over the world. Thick mulch is good advice. The other thing to do is longer watering over less days. It encourages the roots of the plants to go deep and strong which also makes the mulch more effective.
ReplyDeleteDuh! I should say longer watering over more days, sorry for the confusion.
DeleteThat is kind of cool isn't it? You probably have some very similar thistle plants huh? I totally understand what you meant about watering. In fact, we've changed the watering to a similar schedule. I was thinking we might have been doing it too often and keeping the roots shallower.
DeleteTriffid?
ReplyDeleteLOVE IT! Definitely a Triffid! Day of the Triffids was a favorite movie when I was growing up.
DeleteLet me try this again, it's been a bad morning. Instead of watering for short periods for say 3-4 days a week, you should water for a longer period for only 2 days a week unless you have extreme heat when you might give additional water. Does that make more sense?
ReplyDeleteLOL! You are too funny. No worries, it makes perfect sense. We switched to a longer period on MWF. Hoping that works better.
DeleteI does look like a seriously wicked thistle and those do get cool purple flowers that some birds love. If it isn't in your outdoor living space it might be cool to see how it matures. But if it is in the way, mow that sucker down and while it's still bleeding spray that sucker with Round-up! That should take care of it.
ReplyDeleteHa, that would definitely take care of it. It's actually not in the way, I'm kind of curious to see how it develops. As long as it doesn't start moving on it's own, HAHA!! But I will remember the mow/kill scenario, ha.
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