My question this week is about this little plant...
Which is growing prolifically in the wild parts of my yard...
This flower is a type of morning glory...and also goes by the less pleasant name "bindweed."
One article I read about this plant said this:
"Some morning glory is grown as an attractive annual vine in our area. Field bindweed is not attractive."
Hmmm...I disagree. I think they look lovely. Other than having smaller flowers and leaves than the garden store morning glory, I don't see a big difference in appearance.
But the article goes on to say...
Field bindweed is a strong-willed perennial, Goodspeed says. It grows from rhizomes, which are technically underground stems. This gives the plant the ability to move great distances under the ground without being detected. These rhizomes can produce a "new" plant at each node on the stem.
“In layman terms, this means the plant has the ability to send up 1,000 new plants right where you are trying to establish a flower bed or garden,” he says. “As if this were not evil enough, this noxious weed also has the ability to produce thousands of seeds. To top it off, these seeds can lay dormant in the soil for up to 50 years before germinating.”
Are you scared yet?
- Morning Glory Is Gory by Dennis Hinkamp
No, I'm not scared...though I am gaining respect.
You see, maybe I'm crazy, but what I hear in that is "This plant which is soft on the foot and easy on the eyes (IMHO) also grows and spreads without any work from me."
So, my question for you is...
What is your opinion of bindweed/field morning glory? Love it? Hate it? Somewhere in between? And if you have time, please tell me why. (And if you've never seen it before...you can just tell me what you think of it from the pictures and description here. Would you want it in your yard?) Thanks!
I do like the morning glory. Very delicate and pretty. I would keep it in my yard. Any plant that grows that easily would work for me. No green thumb here :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the visit. I'm happy to follow you :)
I think it's pretty, though I might get upset if it took over my vegetable garden. Never seen it around here though...in VA.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I like it less when it's strangling my tomatoes, or creeping into my air conditioner. But it's not too hard to control (hard to eliminate yes...but to control it you just nip it at the ground level).
DeleteI think it's pretty. We would mow it though.
ReplyDeleteHate it! It keeps trying to take over my lillies & I LOVE lillies!
ReplyDeleteIs the Bindweed I see growing in the wild on iur Napa hills really a Morning Glory? Is there s difference in the flowers?
ReplyDeleteWell, it's a type of morning glory...but a different type than what people usually put in their gardens.
ReplyDeletePS: It's Convolvulaceae while the type in most gardens is Ipomoea. Those are different genus (Genus comes above species) so I guess they are actually different plants.
ReplyDeleteAlways been my Favorite Flower, So pretty an easy to grow & spread
ReplyDelete