Halt! Stay where you are!

  Finally, the sun has made an appearance! This first sunny day in quite some time was cause to get outside and do things! Anything! Who cares as long as the sun is shining and I can make an escape from the confines of the house! Out before daybreak, I decided that there was much yardwork to be done..Son would just have to get my herb garden turned before much longer. Those seeds were ready and waiting to be planted! He and I dug, cut out sod and pulled infinite amount of roots in the new space. I was elated to see some form of progress being made on the small piece of ground. Once we managed to clear the spot, I hauled the wad of roots down to the marsh edge. Here they could become mulch or could take root again and help keep the hill from washing away in any hard rains. While near the Bayou edge, I noticed some bright red leaves. Growing up the side of a small oak tree, was a "sticker vine". Better known as Smilax or "that $&#$% vine", its heart-shaped leaves struck me as being sort of pretty. I knew that if this was growing in one of the garden areas, I would definitely be miffed at the large root system and the impossible chore of removing it. There is just no easy way to kill this vine! I have even resorted to using a chemical spray at one point and I do believe the vine merely snickered at my efforts! This has to be perhaps the toughest garden nuisance to ever try to eradicate. Unless you have a strong back, sharp shovel and vast determination, the vine will get the best of you.

  Smilax is actually found worldwide with many different types. Besides the above mentioned names, it is also known as Greenbrier, Deer Thorn and Catbrier. It is a woody vine with the most vicious thorns that will let you know real quick when you have found a vine! In the early summer it has tiny greenish flowers that develop into clusters of dark, bluish-black berries. The berries will hold onto the vine throughout the winter making good feeding for many birds. The seeds will pass through the bird unscathed and will sprout wherever dropped. Lets just hope the birds decide that the vines should stay away from the yard!

  So..my pretty, red leaves belong to a not-so-nice vine. One that you best not tangle with unless you wish to get pretty well scratched! I looked at the Smilax..."Ok, Smilie!" I thought, "As long as you stay down here by the Bayou, I will embrace you as something beautiful! Just don't weasel your way up that hill!"

  One strange thing that I did not know about this vine is that one type is called Sarsaparilla! Yep, it seems as if Sarsaparilla (the drink) is made from the root of one type of Smilax. The Smilax Regelii or Jamaican Sarsaparilla vine provides the base for the drink. It originally was used as a medicine but later was sweetened and served as the beverage, Sasparilla. Some folks will argue that Sasparillas are none other than "root beer". In a sense, this is so as it is a root-based drink but true root beer in the United States was originally made from Sassafras root.