Every summer there comes a time when the garden does not look its best. Weeds have spent months quietly establishing themselves on bare patches of soil where they have then proceeded to thrive.
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| A messy, weedy section of the garden |
Clover is not an especially offensive weed. It can look quite nice, and there are good reasons to include some clover in your lawn, but I don't want it in my flower beds. If it grows out of control, which it can do very quickly, it is easy enough to pull. |
Clover feeling lucky to have found a spot
to thrive in my Toronto garden |
Some weeds are very clever and even beautiful, so much so that I am sometimes convinced to let them grow. Sadly, a single flower one year can lead to a hostile takeover of the garden the next. I learned this the hard way with Commelina communis, commonly known as Asiatic day flower. I am a sucker for true blue in the garden, so when this blue stranger bloomed, I let it be. Now, I am doomed to forever curse these flowers; they simply will not quit. |
Don't be fooled by this pretty blue flower:
Commelina communis is a noxious weed |
The fight against weeds is a tough one to win. While nature is at work in the garden 24/7, I often need an afternoon nap. The losing battle inspired this poem.Invader
The naïve gardener who insists on sleep
stands a mere chance against the intrusion
Dog-strangling vine, twining tightly
up trees helpless in its death clutch
In wilting summer heat,
a stem is sliced with sultry abandon
The aggressive alien, wounded,
pauses its advance, waiting
The gardener relaxes, unsuspecting, satisfied
Still, encroachment continues in the dog days
Unless pulled from deep in the earth
the invader’s infiltration is certain
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| Commelina communis is an aggressive spreader |
Back to the garden I go. There is weeding to be done.
Happy Gardening!
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