Upcoming Plant Sales
There will be FOUR events in the next few weeks, so mark your calendars and be sure to stop by one (or all!) of them. All proceeds help benefit our local schools. Each of the sales will offer native plants (note that some are not on the Portland Plant List). Please see below for more details about each sale! Fort Vancouver High School Plant Sale: Wednesday, April 24, 8am-6pm, Thursday, April 25, 8am-5pm and Friday, April 26, 8am-4pm Native plants available: Trees: Cascara, Oregon White Oak, Vine Maple, Douglas Fir, Western Hemlock, Western Red Cedar; Shrubs: Mock Orange, Flowering Red Currant, Red Twig Dogwood, Cascade Oregon Grape, Baldhip Rose, Nootka Rose, Douglas Spirea, Thimbleberry , Serviceberry, Red Elderberry, Blue Elderberry, Black Hawthorn, Salmonberry, Golden Currant, Smooth Sumac, Salal; Groundcovers : Western Yarrow, Wild Ginger, Sword Fern, Goldenrod, Blue-Eyed Grass, Soft Fruited Bulrush, Tufted Hair Grass, Oregon Sunshine, Maidenhair Fern, Checkermallow, Sedum Spat
In South Africa we have the Port Jackson willow. A wattle/acacia imported from Australia to control the drifting sand on the Cape Flats. Now there is so much housing that the drifting sand and the rare endangered plants that once lived there are almost a memory. PJ can also be used as fodder and craft material. But, it blazes up in a wild fire!
ReplyDeleteYears ago, my sister bought a house on a gently sloping lot in Atlanta. The downhill backyard was covered in Kudzu....many feet thick. She hired a crew to pull it all out....and found a 10x10 utility shed that no one had known was there. :)
ReplyDeleteIf you drive up through Raleigh on Hwy 40 from the NC coast, you're basically driving through walls of kudzu. Trees and roadsides are blanketed. Because I don't have a kudzu problem on my own property, I actually think it looks kind of neat. Like Middle Earth or something.
ReplyDeleteKudzu is a scourge. I hope it never figures out how to live up North. Cute puppy, like the smile.
ReplyDeleteThe kudzu is terrifying but Emmie is adorable.
ReplyDeleteI didn't have to be told I was looking at kudzu when driving down South several years ago. It is a living nightmare. Emmie on the other hand is a cute little sausage.
ReplyDeleteWe have Kudzu at the entrance to our neighborhood and I hate it. As you say, it grows on just about anything. A guy wire supporting a telephone pole both now have it to contend with.
ReplyDeleteIt is horrible, but it creates some great photo ops. I am holding onto some shots of an abandoned house being eaten by Kudzu. They may be appropriate for Halloween. I hope you held tight to Emmie's leash; she could get seriously lost among those vines.
ReplyDeleteThanks God, I haven't seen anything like that here in Croatia. But we too have some imported species that overgrow large areas of domestic vegetation. One of them is Echinocystit lobata that came from America.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, this kudzu is nice looking plant, I mean, nice flowers and leaves... if only would not be so invasive.
Here, there and everywhere.
ReplyDeleteActually, I'm fortunate not to have it on our property or in our neighborhood.
I've seen it all over Tennessee. I read once where researchers were experimenting with making biofeuls from it. That would be much smarter than using corn since corn is a food product for animals and people. Then we would be killing two birds with one stone - fuel issues and an invasive plant!
ReplyDeleteAt least it smells nice. Cute doggie.
ReplyDeletePhillip, fortunately we have been spared kudzu, but we do have our share of other not so wonderful things such as crown vetch (that can never be gotten rid of) and Scotch broom, not to mention the infamous Blackberry vine which is rampant throughout our countryside... but many environmentalist here believe in the au natural kind of landscaping.
ReplyDeleteBest of luck with getting the landscaping.
I was looking at Plant Delights Nursery for a vine for my space left from the Lady Banks removal. Can you believe that Tony is selling a variegated kudzu! I'm too afraid of that!
ReplyDeleteI am thrilled to NOT have this invasive to contend with...the honeysuckle, vinca and euonymous are enough trouble! I bet goats would take care of it! The pup is a cutie pie! gail
ReplyDeleteMy aunt calls it the cancer plant. I'm inclined to agree. It is quite a pretty vine. But I could do without it's looks. Interestingly enough, it's another vine I'm having issues with. Scuppernong Grapes. They are growing wild behind my shed. I keep digging it all up, but to no avail. It grows back exponentily every year. Maybe I need to just start making wine.
ReplyDelete~Randy
That stuff is amazing. Amazing in how fast it grows. It's such a shame to see it taking over whole forests. I'd be scared to live across the street from that! I like the idea of using it as a biofuel though.
ReplyDeleteLove the way you've gathered all the Kudzu stories together, Phillip - I first saw it in Tennessee over 40 years ago, and remember that hopeful story about goats eating it. Wonder what happened?
ReplyDeleteAnnie at the Transplantable Rose
In Delaware we have the same problem. It`s to much of them.
ReplyDeleteGreat case example of how invasive foreign plants can get! I had a similar problem with morning glory in my garden, it nearly choked a couple trees before I could rip it all out!
ReplyDeleteI didn't realize there were actually some legitimate 'uses' for this invasive vine. That's the only plus on its side;-) Otherwise, it was so unfortunate that our govt. was actually promoting this thud. Live and learn, I guess...
ReplyDeleteAnd the little hot dog? How adorable! We have a weeny too...a miniature dachshund...and we just love her to pieces!!! Such great dogs, at least ours is;-)