Another One Bites The Dust

  Being tired of the endless snipping and clipping of the wisteria vines, I cropped them back nearly to the ground.  The arbors stand bare and I am hoping they stay that way.  As matter of fact, if I have my way, the arbors are the next thing to go to the wayside.  Instead of the constant repair required, I shall enjoy a bit of freedom!  The wisterias will be allowed to grow a bit longer if I can train them to tree form and not rampant growing vines.  If they refuse to be constrained a bit, then...chop, chop and out they go!

  Now, another vine has bit the dust.  Red trumpet vines had taken over the kumquat trees and had even crawled all the way to the top of an oak tree.  It was time to put a halt to these as well.  The snips came into play again and the vines were cut to the ground.  The roots will have to be watched so these do not send up new shoots but perhaps if they are caught early enough, I can keep them under control.

  Red trumpet vines are lovely (just like wisteria) but left unfettered, they can become invasive.  These things can swallow up whole buildings if given the chance!  The red or orange blooms make it hard to eliminate the plants.  Hummingbirds love these things and anyone who does a bit of birdwatching, would have a hard time killing the vines merely because of that attraction.  The plants can grow from seeds, cuttings, layering, by runners or just about any other method available.  The seed pods are about six inches in length and have a number of seeds.  Imagine a vine some forty feet long with tons of branches.  Those branches are full of blooms.  Each bloom produces a seed pod filled with fifty to a hundred seeds.  When the seed pods dry, thousands of seeds go airborne and become scattered about the area.  Out of those thousands, most will take root and produce new vines.  The vines are cold hardy, drought hardy and not many critters even bother eating them.  If things are not held in check, the red trumpet vine can soon choke out any other plant life.  (Think the dreaded kudzu here.  This vine's life story is not unlike the horror tales connected to kudzu.)

  While that is all said and done, I will miss the trumpet vine.  The clusters of red tube-like flowers bring a bit of brightness to the otherwise drab woods.  Even the blooms that drop to the ground remain bright red for days.  It saddens me to make short work of things of beauty but this beauty can become a beast if allowed.  SO...snip, snip, chop, chop!  The vines received a good trimming.