Terrifying Plants? Kudzu in the American SE

[jtbell]

In the American Southwest, it's tumbleweeds.

Where I live, in the Southeast, it's http://www.jjanthony.com/kudzu/kudzoo/index.html.

 

[S_Happens]

poison ivy...

 

[B. Elliott]

Kudzu is horrible. It's everywhere back in my hometown. Along sides of the freeway you can see huge outcrops of kudzu and during the colder months there's nothing but barren strips of desolate land.

Actual pics from around my area...

http://tnjn.com/content/storyimage/2008/12/09/kudzu1.box.JPG
http://fotosa.ru/stock_photo/Animals/p_57863.jpg

 

[kbaumen]

http://www.taylors-shop.co.uk/acatalog/scary-tree-costume-500.jpg

It was the most terrifying experience in my life when I, unexpectedly, encountered this abomination growing in my basement. Now I can't sleep.

 

[binzing]

In the American Southwest its frikkin' jumping cactus and prickly pears.

 

[signerror]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Richardscreen3.jpg

Plantagenet.

 

[Chi Meson]

In New England, the bad plant is Asian bittersweet. I have a personal vendetta against that evil vine.
http://www.eastquabbinbirdclub.com/images/morssbittersweet.JPG

 

[qntty]

Here in middle Earth the most terrifying plant I've encountered is treebeard, king of the ents.

 

[turbo]

In my garden, it may be wild mustard. If you let it come to bloom and seed, you are doomed. If you garden organically, the only viable defense is early and aggressive weeding, and burning the weeds.

 

[Proton Soup]

i'm in the southeast, but i wouldn't pick kudzu, it's just a nuisance.

the scary ones are definitely poison ivy / poison oak. and I'm leaning towards poison oak as the more sinister of the two. on some of my old hiking trails, it can easily grow up to eye level (i've had it here and you don't want it, trust me). and in the winter, it's difficult to tell poison oak apart from other woody shrubs. at least with ivy, the vines on the trees are kind of hairy.

on the bright side, tho, i spent enough time around it that i can spot it in most any growth stage. the reddish ivy leaves in the spring are attractive, too.

 

[zoobyshoe]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Richardscreen3.jpg

Plantagenet.

Larry the Scary, indeed!

 

[Dadface]

Buttercups and triffids.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

In the American Southwest, it's tumbleweeds.

Where I live, in the Southeast, it's http://www.jjanthony.com/kudzu/kudzoo/index.html.

Got a drinking problem? Try kudzu
Study: Herb may be effective in reducing alcohol intake

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7884540/

Seems that we have it here in Oregon now.

Serious noxious weed found in Oregon for first time
August 3, 2000...Kudzu, a serious and potentially devastating noxious weed that has caused considerable problems in the Southeastern U.S., has been discovered for the first time in Oregon in an area of Clackamas County south of Canby. This also marks the first reported case of kudzu infestation west of Texas...

http://web.archive.org/web/20061108....state.or.us/information/news/2000/kudzu.html

Found all over the West coast, Blackberry plants are Oregon's kudzu. I wonder who wins in a head-to-head match; blackberries or kudzu.

 

[Proton Soup]

Found all over the West coast, Blackberry plants are Oregon's kudzu. I wonder who wins in a head-to-head match; blackberries or kudzu.

shush, you. blackberries are manna from heaven.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

shush, you. blackberries are manna from heaven.

We love the berries but they will take over the property in just a few years. Life in rural Oregon is a never-ending battle with blackberry plants.

 

[Proton Soup]

We love the berries but they will take over the property in just a few years. Life in rural Oregon is a never-ending battle with blackberry plants.

i'm a little jealous. we have them here, but they don't do well in shade, so all the trees tend to keep them confined to a few untended open spaces. even then it's not really a weed. must be a soil difference or something.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

i'm a little jealous. we have them here, but they don't do well in shade, so all the trees tend to keep them confined to a few untended open spaces. even then it's not really a weed. must be a soil difference or something.

Where are you located, approximately?

 

[Proton Soup]

Where are you located, approximately?

approximately Birmingham, AL. we get a lot of rain here, too, fwiw.

 

[WhoWee]

Catnip of course...every cat in the county rolling around in the yard...dogs barking...birds circling...voices in every direction calling "here kitty, kitty"...it's a nightmare...LOL.

 

[turbo]

We've got wild blackberries, and I'd love for them to take over the property. The crop was pretty thin last year, but the previous year, I could pick at least a gallon of berries every couple of days. I LOVE blackberry pancakes with real maple syrup! One of our neighbors makes maple syrup and she dropped off a canning-jar of it about a week ago. Nice and dark and thick - not like the mis-graded stuff in the stores.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

i'm a little jealous. we have them here, but they don't do well in shade, so all the trees tend to keep them confined to a few untended open spaces. even then it's not really a weed. must be a soil difference or something.

Here, they will strangle the smaller trees, but the best producers are by far those that get a lot of sun. The stuff in the trees is mostly just vine, but they grow at an astonishing rate.

Turbo, every year I have a ten-foot wall to spray all around the S and W fencelines. It can be really deceiving too. From the house I can look down and see what needs to be done. But when I get down there and stand next to it... sheeeesh! It is a massive wall of bushes. The trick is to get it early. In fact, I plan to spray today. It is our first day this spring that is supposed to be above 70 degrees and I'm pretty well caught up with work for the moment.

 

[kbaumen]

Blackberries are great with milk and sugar (lots of sugar). Eat 'em like a soup.

I'd give up my left arm for a portion of them now.

 

[Evo]

Silver nightshade. You cannot get rid of it, the roots go down several feet and travel. No matter how much time you spend digging it up, even more comes back the next year.

And it's poisonous.