master gardener?

 I seem to have gotten less knowledgeable about plants

    Back in the day, I could rattle off names of plants.  I could even identify most of the native plants found in our area.

    One time I was on a field trip with an outdoor ed class.  It was late fall, and we were walking through a prairie.  

    Some of the plants had already dropped their leaves.

    I found a particularly attractive vine with little berries....red or white, I don't remember.  I picked a couple and went to your instructor and said "Sonia, what are these berries?"

    "Poison ivy!"  was the reply.

    The oils are still active in the fall, but luckily I did not develop a rash.

    Last fall I had some really big plants in part of my native garden.  I did not like them.  I asked people what they were, and I got a variety of answers.  One was a native sunflower.  I just did not like them, so I pulled several of them.

    There were about 15.....which would have been strange because I don't remember buying 15 plugs of any one kind.  So I sort of think they were weeds, even though they had flowers.

    This year that area of the garden is full of little plants.

    At first, 2 weeks ago, I thought "great, a million sunflowers I don't want."

    I wish that were the case.

    As the plants grew, I recognized them as.......thistle.  A lot of thistle.  A damn lot of thistle.

    I have been digging it out but have barely made a dent in the thistle population.

    I need the cavalry to come to the rescue!

    Thistle is hard to get rid of.  If you don't get the root, it comes back.  It sends out side roots that sprout new plants, so there is a lot of mucking about in the dirt.  Plus you have to have gloves, otherwise you get stuck.

    I'll attack it a little at a time.  By the time football season starts, I may have it under control.

Peace and Love