Do you know this weed?
I hope not. It's called Mile-a-minute a/k/a Devil’s tail tearthumb a/k/a Polygonum perfoliatum. It grows in the woods behind our house, but until this year, the shade there has been too dense for it to spread very efficiently (it craves sunlight). Due to the loss of a dozen or so trees in a severe windstorm last fall, that's no longer the case.
Having made only half-assed efforts to remove it in the spring, I finally decided to tackle the chore seriously today. The stinker comes by its name honestly. It can grow up to six inches a day. It climbs over and around everything in sight. And it has thorns. Teeny tiny painful thorns that come out of the stem and the undersides of the leaves easily and embed themselves firmly in skin. They often need to be tweezed out. I worked for a few hours in long sleeves, thick socks and heavy gardening gloves. I barely made a dent. And, yes, it was close to ninety degrees out there.
It was only then that I got the bright idea to do some research. As it turns out, I blew it, because the cute little bright blue berries that have already sprouted all over these plants, most of which came off and rolled away as I was pulling, contain the seeds that will give us a new crop next year. So next year (sigh), they will be pulled while the berries are still green, or better yet, before they appear. Maybe that will give the new trees we planted a chance to grow up big, strong and shady.
You can find more interesting stuff on this pest here (scroll down).
