Mornings

In the early morning hours when I first wake up, I tend to plan out my day.  It’s a holdover from working full time in sales and then consulting.  Sort of prioritized my day which made it easier to work in problems or emergencies. 

Of course, now I don’t have the same problems but, I do still plan out the things I want/need to accomplish.  Then, when those things are done – Yea Me! 

Today, my list started and ended with yard work.  We are having early spring these days.  Yes, I know, February.  And, yes, I do expect at least one more drop into the 30’s before all is said and done.  However, the weeds believe it to be spring and are running amok throughout the yard.  I am trying to get the them under control (well, that’s a bit of an oxymoron – control and weeds). 

And I did want to get the Coral Vine cut back to the ground otherwise the new growth would grow over the old and I’d have a massive vine, not only 20 feet long but probably 5 feet tall all along the fence.  Now, I’m the first to admit, it’s pretty and it attracts pollinators but it gets out of control very easily, is invasive, and is happy to grow up trees and onto power lines.  Apparently the seeds and root tubers are supposed to be edible but mostly this is a Federal Noxious Weed, TDA Noxious Weed, and TPWD Prohibited Exotic Species.  I spent several years trying to kill it with no success so finally I gave up and try to keep it pruned.

Coral Vine, (Mexican Creeper, Chain of Love, Queen’s Wreath) is a fast-growing tropical that loves our warm to hot climate.  While it can freeze to the ground, it is happy to come back in the spring and in fact, can grow 10 to 20 feet in just one season.  It has bright pink flowers and big heart shaped leaves and is a pain in the patootie to cut back.  

That done, I moved on to the weeds.  Right now, my yard is full of

 Chickweed

Wood Violets

10-Petal Anemone

Clover

and

  

Sow Thistle

Aarrrggghhhh!

I’ll bet I spent two hours digging up the Sow Thistle because 1 I hate it; 2 I hate it a lot; 3 It has big prickly stickers and 4 it goes from this size to thigh high overnight.  And, I’ll bet I have at least another two hours of sow thistle digging before the majority of them are gone.  The rest I can deal with - the anemone, clover and chickweed (plus a bunch of others) will die out when it gets hot (which just might be in March).  The violets are just a part of life here in my part of Texas – you gotta love ‘em and go forth.

15 Feb 2019