Lady Banks Pulled Down the Trellis

Huge wind storm on Wednesday, even a tornado watch & the garden sustained some pretty significant damage. The Lady Banks Rose that had grown huge finished off the trellis that had become rotten.

I am cross that this happened before it bloomed but it was getting out of hand & I am sure the landscapers on the other side of the fence will not miss it's whips across the face as they mow by.

I took some cuttings as this is the white version so a bit more scarce than the normal "lutea' or yellow one.

The daffodils in the spring border underneath might better now.

Also the Parsley Hawthorne Crataegus marshallii was blown down & looks rotten at the base as if the area is too wet for it. It suckers but I had pruned it to a tree form. This plant has vicious thorns so a shrub version is not really welcome. We shall see what happens there. I will miss those flowers too just starting to swell.

Hairy Bittercress

After the recent rains & temperatures up & down my earth is very loose so Monday I spent most of the  day weeding in the circle. Easy pulling even of the multitude of tree seedlings came out with all root attached. It seemed as if I pulled  3,000 of the hairy bittercress (Cardamine hirsuta) but probably only 300.

This weed goes to flower, & then seed of course, when it is so tiny you almost don't recognize it. If left to produce seed as you pull it the seeds scatter far & wide.

I was somewhat amused (but only somewhat)  to find this website on edible weeds from New Zealand. Julia recommends eating the darn stuff, apparently in the brassica family, & others do too. If I have complete failures such as my Brussel Sprouts this winter, which did not produce sprout one, I might have to consider this as a veggie too.

If you want to read about weeds as veg & get the recipe here's the website

http://www.juliasedibleweeds.com/general/bittercress-a-warming-winter-weed/