Actually, I'm not even sure if they are weeds or not. I don't know much about horticulture. I tried a few web sites to try to id them myself, but couldn't even answer most of the questions (ex,
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can view the pics at:
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if they are weeds, how to I get rid of them? They seem to be centrally located only on one part of my property. I assume good old fashioned yanking up by the roots will work. They seem to be strangling some wild raspberry plants and would like to try to save the berry plants.
Johnny wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@59g2000hsb.googlegro ups.com:
eradication if you don't want it there. weed B is a tulip tree.. not a weed in most cases, but if you don't want it, cut it down. it'll come back from the roots a couple times, just keep cutting the sprouts. weed C is grapes. again, keep cutting it back & it'll eventually die. are you sure that's a wild raspberry? lee
First, thanks for the excellent reply! I have a few more questions.
So, those are grapes? Excellent! Can we eat them? If I let the sapling go, it will grow into a tree? Those are some type of berries. We picked them and ate them last year. My neighbor said they were raspberries. However, I went out again and noticed another plant that has different leaves but what looks like raspberries already in bloom (right term?) - see the updated web page. So now I'm not sure what we have. Lastly, I found another "plant" - guess I can't tell a weed from a plant - that I posted some pics of for ID.
I was mostly interested in ID'ing these plants to know what to eliminate. But I guess I should keep them all. Would it be beneficial to keep all these plants? The "fruit" plants all seem to be growing on the part of my property that gets the most sun - the rest is heavily forested - so I don't think they will be invasive.
Johnny wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@d1g2000hsg.googlegro ups.com:
of course, but i can't guarantee they'll be very good. depending on where you are, they would be different varieties. for example, i'm in New England, so wild grapes here are generally Concords, good for jelly. in NY they might be Concords or they might be fox grapes, which are tiny & sour (i like them better than Concords). down South, you get wild Muscat grapes.
the tulip tree? yes, they are really a very pretty tree. i wish i had at least one. however, they can get really large, over 200', so make sure it has some room.
ok, the first berries *are* a wild type of raspberry. they have pink flowers, don't they? i did have a couple of them but we cut down a willow & i think it got too boggy for them. they're gone now anyway. they're as good as domestic raspberries & mine had berries rather late in the season, after the domestic ones were finished. berry B is a trailing variety of blackberry, i think. is it growing on those canes or on the vines? i can't tell from the photo. either way, they're pretty good if you can get them before the birds do. your weed D looks like what we call 'dewberries', another type of trailing blackberry. they're mostly annoying since they rarely have berries & the vines trip you.
if you're lucky you'll find some black raspberries along your wooded area as well.
i keep a good stand of goldenrod. it's *not* a cause of hayfever (it's pollen is too heavy), but since it blooms at the same time as ragweed, which doesn't have showy flowers, it gets blamed. goldenrod is an important butterfly plant.
Billy wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@c-61-68-245-199.per.conne ct.net.au:
used for jelly aren't they? i was noticing how the hops & the wild grapes along the front stone wall are so intertwined yesterday... the grapes are blooming now, the hops bloom in late July. lee
small contribution, regarding your berries: if the berry part is a kind of hollow shell around a conical inedible part, that's a raspberry. if it's like a raspberry with those little spheres but the edible part is solid instead of a hollow shell, it's a blackberry.
As far as I know, all grapes are edible. Their sweetness atones for any dissonance of flavor. Adding a little pectin can't hurt. It's only when the sugar is fermented out of them, that esthetics come into play.
This used to be hops country, after it was prune country, before it became apple country, and today wine country. Did you plant the hops or are they volunteers and do you have a gigantic trellis for them to climb?
The grapes are flowering here as well but since they don't have petals, one needs to invade their privacy to notice them;o)
The solstice is behind us. The days are beginning to shorten again (at least here in the northern hemisphere). The next three months are as good as it gets. The days are animated by the activity at the bird bath and the feeder, the flitting of butterflies, and the reassuring drone of the bees. Dinners are al fresco and soon a cricket's chorus will be added to the sound of the wind chimes. Plants that I've never had the pleasure of knowing, are appearing among others that are, by now, old friends. Now with the hard work behind us, we can commune together. Like all relationships, you never know how it will all work out. You can only try to make it work and hope for the best.
I can hardly wait to see again the the dent corn in it's glory, or the unlikely looking Zucchetta Rampicante, or the delicate trailing petunias dangling from their lofty nests, or taste the bergamot tea, or the fresh tomatoes, or (the holy grail) sweet corn. It feels like a Disney cartoon with so many little friends under foot.
With so much of the world in stress, under water, or burning up, at least here, a little soil is healthy, the bees and the butterflies can ply their trade, and hopefully there is a little more diversity. I only hope that I can do it well enough to encourage the next resident of this land to continue the dream.
Billy wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@c-61-68-245-199.per.conne ct.net.au:
the hops in the front are "wild" hops, & i don't know if they are native hops or leftovers from when this area has a lot of hops farms (with bines imported from England & the Netherlands). in any case, i don't know the variety... i put up tripods of 7' bamboo poles & run strings for some of the wild hops, & i have bines running up over the mailbox. we also have cultivated hops, 9 different varieties right now to see which grow best here & those are all trellised. add the 6 varieties of pumpkin, 21 varieties of tomatoes, peas, pole beans, beets, chard, cabbage, 3 colors of cauliflower, watermelon... that 50' x 100' garden really isn't big enough. :) lee
Billy wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@c-61-68-245-199.per.conne ct.net.au:
i had 49 varieties of tomatoes last year.... but only 3 pumpkins. i have my own crossbred pumpkin that i keep seeds from each year. the original parents were a Cotton Candy & a Rouge d'Etampes. it's a not quite white with orange flesh, and a really good keeper. i have 2 still in the basement from last fall that are in great shape (no soft spots or anything yet). i'm still working on stabilizing it. i had one last year that had white pumpkins on one vine & dayglo yellow on another. i have never seen such visible pumpkins... apparently tasty too. the woodchuck got those. hmm, maybe i should breed for those glowing yellow ones. lee
Billy wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@c-61-68-245-199.per.conne ct.net.au:
mashed, with butter, salt & pepper. soups. pie, but that's not my favorite thing. roast pumpkin salad with garlic vinegarette. pumpkin is basicly a fat squash, so it can be savory as well as sweet.
Thanks everyone for the great input! I was originally just going to clear cut all but the berries, but now I think I'll leave it as is. I read somewhere it's a property owner's duty to remove any invasive species. I thought the grapes were some kind of vine that would overtake the whole property - something like kudzu. I guess not. Knowledge is power...
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