or
"Sighted Spiderwort, Sank Same"
or
... well, you get the idea.
Die, pretty blue flowers, die!
Okay, relax, I'm not really killing them, but I am really cutting them.
They will resprout ... sigh ...
Before you judge me too harshly or check the URL to see if this really is Pure Florida, hear my case.
PFHQ is 10 acres of wild Florida with about one of those acres devoted to buildings, gardens, and lawn.
I use the term "lawn" loosely here ... it's got some grass here and there, and we mow it, so I'm pretty sure it's a lawn of some sort.
Look at the picture above, the subtropical jungle is right off the starboard bow of PFHQ Central. Spiderwort is welcome to grow anywhere else on the planet except in my garden and in the tiny bit of "lawn" that surrounds the house.
But, noooooo, spiderwort was not content to live on the margins. All it took was a few sensitive moments on my part while mowing ...
" Hey, isn't that little clump of spiderwort pretty? I'll just mow around it this time ..."
And this happened ... an explosion of pollinating, seed producing flowerpowered sexual reproduction ... I think the bees were in on this too and the butterflies have a guilty look about them.
I let them have their fun all winter, but the house zone was beginning to look like the owners moved out back in January and we can't have that.
So yesterday I fired up the trusty MowFlex exercise machine and did some slicin' & dicin'.
It was strangely satisfying.
22 comments:
I've done the same thing with some pretty blue clover behind our house. It's taken over about a third the yard, but it looks a heck of a lot better than St. Augustine grass.
Our yard has blanket flower growin' like crazy. Hubby always says he's going mow them over but they're still there.Such a sweetie he knows how much I love them.
Fc I have got my mower greased and lubed and sharpened and the first mowing of the season under my belt. what a time waster S T E B
mow flex!
Glad to see you back on the good Ol' U.S.A. time line! As for the mowing "I guys got to dew what a guys got to dew."
Bro J
Spiderwort can be that way up by me, as well. It's one of those species that thrives on disturbance. A common place to find it up here is growing in railroad ballast.
We have a very similar problem with periwinkle. It's a very pretty ground cover that our predecessors planted, and now it is living up to its stated purpose. It is absolutely taking over. Damned stuff is extremely difficult to even pull by hand. So, mow away, you're lucky!
Up here we PLANT and cultivate the stuff. What a difference in climate. lol
So that's what those blue flowers are! They're pretty, but I mow 'em.
Mockinbird
I'm just glad I know what to call them instead of "stupid cursed whatever flower you are, I hate you" Spiderwort is sooooo much less time-consuming.
robin -- now the periwinkle isn't your problem! i like the stuff, anyway.
Ooh, better not let my mother catch you mowing that over. She will give you a spanking. She digs it up in the yard before my dad can mow and transplants it to her flower bed! LOL One woman's beauty is another man's object of mowdom.
Gee, maybe you could package it up as an herb and sell it for big-time bucks. St. John's didn't do too bad.
Looks like that non-native type of spiderwort anyway! Mow on...
Let it grow, just make sure everyone has a GPS!
In an effort to avoid another citation from the Bold New City of the South, I did the same this afternoon and mowed down many a Spiderwort. Glad I don't have 10 acres. Growing up we had five acres, with one of those as a garden, but I had to mow 2 1/2 of the others - thankfully on a riding lawn tractor, though.
It's spring here too, but I'll get this next year off of mowing the lawn! Hehehe!
Hey nice shots of the anole! I always like wathing them doing their posturing to show dominance!
Don't "hehehe" too soon, TD. You haven't seen what's waiting for you at TD's & Lightnin's south.
Bro J
HT,
A little goes a long way.
Dani,
Now that is a plant I love. So tough!
STEB,
Can be, but I do a lot of thinking out there too. It's probably the fumes...
Kathy A,
:)
BroJ,
I must have been hurrying payday.
Doug,
Sorry I never officially ID'd this one per your previous question. I still don't know who it is officially.
Robin,
Similar dilemma. You are passing yours on tho :)
3C,
Want some?
:)
Mockinbird,
Notice how they bloom shorter then?
Sneaky.
Mel,
I think that is the translation of "Spiderwort".
Cathy S,
My Mom does the same thing!
Hoss,
And I have some snake oil for sell too! :)
Rurality,
Nonnative?!
I always assumed it belonged here.
How can you tell?
Tsiya,
LOL!
Sounds like a plan.
Alan,
If I had a city checking my lawn I would be in Azkaban right now.
ThunderD,
I'm sure some guy in China would let you mow his lawn just to stay in practice.
Well around here they say that the tall one isn't native, but the short one is. Now this is just what I've been told... to tell you the truth I haven't researched it. In the woods here I only find the short one though. The tall one seems to like the sun better. Of course everything grows taller in Florida anyway though, huh? :)
I am set to do the same on my "lawn" right...NOW. Stayed home from work for a half-day, by God. We have a serviceman coming "between 11 and 1". Perfect for me to take a half-day in the yard. And I WAS considering letting those clumps of pretty white flowers grow, whatever they are. Perhaps I will now reconsider the idea.
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