Re: OT:herbicides: a rant
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: Re: OT:herbicides: a rant
- From: "* M* C* o* B* S* <s*@aristotle.net>
- Date: Sun, 29 Mar 1998 08:01:50 -0700 (MST)
>Isn't there an illustrated guide to pernicious weeds
>somewhere, complete with mug shots?
>
Griff, oddly enough, I learned the names of many of our "native plants" by
stopping at a chemical lawn company's booth at the Arkansas Flower and
Garden show! They had a big photo chart on display, accompanied by petri
dishes with examples of weeds.
I learned to distinguish dead nettle and henbit just Saturday, by looking
through an excellent photo reference by one of Arkansas' state treasures, a
native species enthusiast named Carl Hunter. (Our local iris club is very
excited that Hunter joined us at the show!) Perhaps your state has a fellow
like him who has produced photo references; such might be stocked on the
shelf at your library. Or perhaps Ortho has a photo book of weeds with
instructions on killing them; they have several for insects and diseases.
Failing all that, there's always the county agent. Our agency is a
prodigious publisher of books and pamphlets, some of which have
representative drawings.
I made a New Years's resolution to learn the names of the familiar weeds.
Naming them as I yank them makes the work seem grander somehow. So many are
lovely little plants. In a better world, we would want them around us.
celia
storey@aristotle.net
Little Rock, Arkansas, USDA Zone 7b
-----------------------------------
257 feet above sea level,
average rainfall about 50 inches (more than 60" in '97)
average relative humidity (at 6 a.m.) 84%.
moderate winters, hot summers ... but lots of seesaw action in all seasons
