Re: What I wish I hadn't planted

Thornless blackberry 'Black Satin'

I had one good Âyear, and then the spotted-wing drosophila appeared, resulting in maggoty fruit. The blackberries weren't even close to edible until they were almost too soft to hold, and by then they were teeming wtih maggots. I gave it away to someone who was going to plant it in an area where the SWD hadn't yet appeared. But she didn't dig up every last bit of root, and it won't go away. Every week or two, it seems, I pull up more sprouts.Â

Not so bad in the scheme of things, but that's my only unwanted plant that won't stay away.

Tanya
Palo Alto (SF bay area)


On Sun, May 19, 2013 at 8:58 PM, <p*@att.net> wrote:
I planted Rubus rolfei (formerly R. pentalobus) in a small bed once. Big mistake. There should be a notation on tags telling us not to plant rampant spreaders like this one in a small space, something like: "best in a bed at least 8X10 feet or in a bounded space." It lept over my entire bed and was the devil to dig out in its entirety. I have seen it used well in two situations. In one, it was planted between rip-rap (consisting of tree branches) on a slope that was at least 20X20 feet, maybe bigger, and it was happily covering the slope. In the other, it was in a concrete-bound parking strip along a street and had filled the space solidly. It seemed to take the foot traffic associated with getting in and out of cars too.

Incidentally, I keep my houttuynia cordata in a nice pot about 14" across and rather shallow. It looks very pretty there in spring and summer and cannot escape to cause a problem. (It's dormant in winter here.)

Pam Peirce
San Francisco

From: Nan Sterman <T*@plantsoup.com>
To: Medit-Plants listserv <m*@ucdavis.edu>
Sent: Sun, May 19, 2013 6:49:45 PM
Subject: What I wish I hadn't planted

I was working in the garden this evening, feeling a little frustrated by all the duff from the pepper tree i planted almost 20 years ago. i was thinking that if I had it all to do again, I would NEVER have planted that tree.Â

What in your garden do you wish you'd never planted?

Nan





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If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need. -- Cicero
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