Sunday, March 28, 2010

Tough Little Plants and Evil Twins

One tough little plant that I may have underestimated in my garden is the strawberry begonia. It's also known as a strawberry geranium, but is neither a begonia nor a geranium. This little guy loves to creep around my garden and sends out little babies in every direction.  It puts out delicate little flowers in the springtime.


I'm amazed that it's mostly sold as a houseplant. I left a few pots of them out in my garden during the winter, and was surprised to find them living and thriving after all those freezes we had. I wouldn't have thought the ones planted in the ground would have survived the prolonged cold. It seems, though, as long as they receive plenty of shade and rich moist soil, they are happy.

Don't you hate weeds that look just like the plants you are trying to grow? Have you ever saved and nurtured a plant only to find some sort of ugly green flower instead of what you thought you were growing? Have you been tricked into pulling out something you intended to save because it looked just like the weeds you were attempting to eradicate?


Yeah, so have I. Look at the similarities between nasturtium and dollar weed. When I am in a frenzy of weed-pulling, I could easily grab a handful of nasturtium before I realize what I'm doing. I have lost so many gerber daisies, because they look just like a nasty weed that grows here. I'm sure every cherished plant has an evil weed twin bent on its destruction.

8 comments:

Ami said...

Interesting observation! I have lots of dollar weed in my garden, and I am sure they are not Nasturtium :) That strawberry begonia looks beautiful!

Vetsy said...

Your strawberry begonia is lovely" You mean..I'm Not the only one who is guilty of doing this"...LoL! Deb I have kicked myself for doings this over and over again countless times!

Deb..even worst I'm shame to admit that I have probably killed a few beneficial bugs and butterfly larvae as well!...because i didn't recognize what I was looking at! Thank God I've learned better!

I promised myself that I would buy me a couple of good resource books this year.

Isadora said...

I hear you! I can't imagine how many chicory plants I've pulled oout because their basal growth looks just like dandelions, and I love the blue chicory flowers! Weeds are sneaky, too, they manage to see into something that they look like and hide until they get so bg you have to dig the whole thing out and separate them! And I love the strawberry begonia, also. I learned many years ago quite by accident that they are hardy.

debsgarden said...

You are very observant. I can't always tell the difference, either. I think the weeds masquerade as the good plants as another way of surviving and multiplying, which is what they do best.

Darla said...

'They' say everyone has a twin somewhere, so why not plants!!

Deborah Verhoeven said...

I'm glad to see I'm not the only person who has been tricked by evil plant twins (and some bugs too)

Amy said...

Guilty! I am wondering right now if some of my plants along my path are weeds or Mexican petunias. It is hard to tell sometimes. I need to hurry up and find out before they take over...whatever it is. Great post!

Deborah Verhoeven said...

LOL! Over here, Mexican petunias ARE weeds! Seriously, I do grow them and love them, but they can take over pretty quickly and creep into places you didn't want them to be.