Re: Alien Weed

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Hi Sterling, I had it for the first time last year after living here since 1959! I didn't like the way it looked and behaved so I kept pulling it out and this year I seem to have much less and did the same thing this year. It is too near my tomatoes so I did not want to use spray. Maybe next year it will be the last of it. Seeds may have come in a package, not necessarily irises.  Since you have a very nice close-up photo of it why not print it out a hard copy and take it to your nearest Agricultural Inspector and ask him to identify it. I did that with something eating my tomatoes this summer, while still only pink and learned that this year there was an invasion of what they call roof rats. They are vegetarians and so liked my tomatoes. You should have seen my husband trying to see which of them would be the first to get to the pink tomatoes first. Normally we do not wash our tomatoes but this year the thought of them pawing our tomatoes did not appeal to us. We normally pick them when ripe but this year they had to be pink put in a brown bag with an apple and inspect them each day til they were red. They are the only veggies we grow so maybe next year we may not grow any to see if they will move somewhere else. They are not like rates which carry disease. Our inspector was not the least concerned about them. If you learn any more about the weed please let us know? Thank you.

 

Francesca