Why I Oughta...

A month ago, I posted photos showing the seed packet and the knee-high seedlings that were popping up in my new full-sun cut-flower bed on the side of our house .  I crowed about how I was really pushing things with getting used to direct-sowing seeds like this Nicotiana Jasmine.   In that month since, the seedlings kept getting TALLER AND TALLER.  Some were over my head.  And all of them were crowding out other things - like Zinnias and a few Dahlia tubers that I interplanted in that same bed.   Curious, I thought.  They were growing taller and taller.  No blooms.  Here's what they looked like: Then....we went to Nat's parents house where her mom has plenty of Nicotiana Jasmine.  Too much, maybe.  Her Mom says that it reseeds iteself.  When I looked at hers, they were MUCH SHORTER.  And the leaves were more droop-y and almost like a lettuce leaf.   VERY DIFFERENT from what I was seeing in my bed.   Then, I saw some of the buds had emerged.  They were pointy, long and curving. 

The Wild Onion continues to be a problem.  The clumps of these bulbs are in our lawn and in our beds.  I've worked at them for years - including cultural and herbicide treatments over the years.  I've removed them, sprayed them and attempted to treat the soil to make them less happy.  This Spring, I've lime'd the backyard , sprayed the tips with Tenacity and pulled them out by hand.  This past week, I went into the understory garden bed and used my Hori Hori to pull up a bunch of these jerks.  Below is the orange trug filled up with the bulbs.  What's different in the beds vs the lawn is that it is a bit easier to get the bulbs out without taking more dirt/soil/earth.  I pry up the bulbs, cut the clump and pull from the bottom.   If you have Wild Onions like we do, be SURE TO NOT COMPOST THEM.  These go right in the trash - not the compost pile.   Here's a couple of other Spring 2023 posts on these awful things.