In the springtime this year I noticed a new weed growing in the garden. It had lacy leaves and grew in whorls. I thought it looked like a weed that I had started getting in the end of my time in my North Carolina garden. It starts out small and then starts to radiate stems like this:
I actually thought it was kind of pretty and was growing better than some of the plants in my gravel pathway. I even entertained notions of letting it go for a while and see what it would do. But I am very strict on what I put in my gardens and let live there, so if I didn't plant it, it normally doesn't stay there. I realized by mid-summer that the scree garden idea hadn't been executed very well. I had to spend large amounts of time weeding out unwelcome visitors. And then back about a month ago I was finishing up a class and work was stressful so I didn't get out weeding like I should. And then when we got back from our trip to Arkansas and walked into our back yard we saw the disaster that was left behind.
The Spotted Spurge had covered the entirety of the gravel pathways, you could barely see the stepping stones and couldn't even see the gravel in some places. I decided to go do some internet research and figure out what the heck was growing in my garden. After going through some identification guides, I got the ID. Then I started reading about it with a sinking heart. Spotted Spurge is poisonous. It is low growing so mowing doesn't stop it. It produces copious amounts of seeds. Once it gets started in an area it is difficult to eradicate. I went into the back garden and started working on reclaiming it. My heart kept sinking lower every time I pulled up a mat and saw all of the seeds left behind.
It has started growing in the sod in our front yard too, and I'm going to have to go hand pull it because otherwise it will start to take over there too. I guess I have learned another valuable life lesson. :)
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