One of the first attempts to add a bit of greenery to Badboulder that wasn't prickly, thorny or just downright treacherous( cat's claw) involved the use of plants that had outgrown their space in a friend's yard here in Yarnell and they were FREE. The iris turned out to be quite ordinary, none the less, quite beautiful. The trumpet vine has taken years to thrive, has to be protected from bloom-munching grasshoppers, needs some irrigation, but sports beautiful orange blooms. The star of the give-aways by far has been a Virginia Creeper vine.
At that time we were quite ignorant of the fact that our soil contained no nutrients to sustain any plants other than goat's heads (capable of flattening wheelbarrow tires), thistles (need a cool, soda bath for this one), scrub oak (buy stock in Claritin), and filaree ( cats hate it). The Virginia Creeper has grown gloriously in our hostile environment. We put it into the soil without amending, neglected it for years and now enjoy this magnificent vine in our courtyard. We have found offspring growing in decomposed granite and cracks between concrete foundations. What a plant!
My Sunset Western Gardening book describes Virginia Creeper as native to the Rocky Mountains and eastward which leads us to believe that some homesick gardener must have brought it to Yarnell. It is one of the few deciduous shrubs to flash some bright orange/scarlet color during our brief fall season. It does need fencing or trellising to become much of a climber but with a little help it has attained heights greater than I.
There is a possibility that its cool foliage provides refuge for snakes, so I do not tarry when walking past our courtyard creeper. Now that our deck is complete, I'm ready to transplant a vine or two to mask some of the crawl space underneath.
An ambitious and successful gardener here in Yarnell is hoping to roundup enough of us wannabes to attend a plant-sharing party next spring. I hope to be there with some Virginia Creeper plants to share.
FROM THE KNOTHOLE: Jeepers-creepers, this Virginia Creeper grows like crazy. It may take Round-up to get it under control. It's starting to look like the movie "Green Mansions" around here. In that movie, Anthony Perkins played a reasonably normal, romantic type guy before he was forever fused into the psychotic killer character Norman Bates in the "Psycho" flicks.
a parting shot from bbman: I don't believe in the devil, but I'm afraid of him. That line came from the movie "Usual Suspects," spoken by Kevin Spacey playing the part of a super crook.
That's one awesome vine! I should comment under the tile post, but when we tidied up the garage, I finally unearthed the mosaic planter pot you made for me, maybe I'll start my own lemon tree??
ReplyDeleteIf it's a decorative lemon you want, go for the method with a seed from your trustworthy tree. Badboulderman is on to something, if I try another lemon will purchase a Meyer. I did see a feature home in PHX Home & Garden located in Scottsdale with several awesome Virginia Creeper growing on trellis and deck railing.
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