I may have mentioned once or several times that we’ve inherited a garden full of promiscuous weedy invaders. Top of the list is ground elder, closely followed by Spanish bluebells, but topping the top is Phygelius (kindly identified by Jude who described it as a thug that had to be dug up and contained in a pot). It is a semi-evergreen shrubby entity from South Africa, also known as Cape Figwort and Cape Fuchsia. And yes, it does look pretty when it’s cascading in bright red tubular flowers.
But just see where its roots are off to. These are growing under and in what was lawn.They extend at least two metres from the mother plant at the top of the garden. And the thing you most need to know about this vigorous pesky plant is that the smallest broken fragment of root has the capacity to make a new plant and root system in the blink of an eye.
The ground in the photo had been covered by a sheet of black plastic for around three months. This killed the grass, but only encouraged the Phygelius to sprout potential plants at regular intervals along the length of its root system. The good news is I can now see it and so unravel it (carefully) with a fork, and also extract any intertwining ground elder.
A tedious job, but then I do have company.
This male blackbird spent all of Monday with me, scoffing worms and growing ever bolder. By the time I’m done, he will be one very fat bird, because the garden is also blessed with masses of worms.
And then this week there was another happy find, this time under a fallen roof slate…
…one large toad. What a gift. Perhaps he/she is the reason why I’ve seen so few slugs. (So far anyway).
And finally, a pleasing plant discovery, rescued from behind the compost bin where it was being nibbled by snails:
Cranesbill: Geranium Phaeum ‘Album’
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And so the garden moves forward – renewed, reconstructed and (in several quarters), burgeoning.
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#SquaresRenew Becky’s May photo squares each day feature moving forward, reconstruction, renewal and burgeoning. Still time to join in.
Tish Farrell 
glad you are moving forward, and hope you can stop the weeds moving forward!
I think I need a weed-ungrowing spell on the Phygelius. It’s actually growing in most of the lawn.
Get Jude up to help you, surely between you both you can cast that spell?!
You are making progress Tish!
Thank you, Anne 🙂
😊
Phaeums give so much without asking – just what I want for my dryish hedge border – and the toad since mine did not turn up this year. Did not know about that thug of Phygelius – am rooting for you Tish!
Cheers, Laura. So happy to have you rooting for me. I’ve just come indoors for having another go at the phygelius. The nearer I get to the mother plants the bigger the roots. Mostly lateral, but every now and then it puts down a vertical one. Sorry about your lack of a toad.
I, too, am rooting for you, Tish – a most thankless task you have. All power to your spade/fork/whatever
Invasive Plants are such a nightmare . So glad you have retained your sense of humour!
Some days I need to remind myself of that, Margaret 🙂
I REALLY feel your pain. We have invaders from everywhere and they are voracious. If not cut down, they will eventually consume the house. Twice a year we have a crew come to cut and slash everything cuttable and slashable. We also have a huge problem with poison ivy. The only good thing about the drought was it killed some of it off. But now, with so much rain, I shiver in fear because I’m sure it will be back.
Well, you’ve made me feel better, Marilyn. Mine is clearly a tiny invasion compared to your annual vegetational assault. And at least I think I can get to the bottom of mine with some persistence. There is the hedge though, which we’ve had cut down to a reasonable height, but it’s full of gnarly ash and sycamore saplings that have been allowed to spring up amongst what was once a holly hedge. Not sure what we’ll do with it.
I feel your pain. I had similar problems with the bamboo, which had sent out runners and was a nightmare to dig up. Even now I have bits coming up from under rocks that I cannot move.
The toad and the geranium are good finds though.
Yes the toad and the geranium make up for a lot. That bamboo invasion sounds awful. It’s such a tenacious plant. At least I can get at the main phygelius plants in places where I want to plant. Not sure what to do about the top lawn though, apart from keep mowing it. It’s become a phygelius reservoir.
I hope you manage to conquer the thug! But it’s great to see the blackbird enjoying the feast and the toad too 🙂
Well, you seem to have help in the garden, with the blackbird and the “crapaud”. 👍🏻
Thank you for ‘crapaud’, Brieuc. Not a word I knew, or at least remembered.
Is that right? It’s not very common these days in our extremely urbanized society.
I do a bit of homework with my grandson every monday when my wife picks him up at school. He’s 8. So we do reading among other stuff. I have to explain 30-40% of the vocabulary, because the stories have not changed. What’s a “haystack”? he has no idea, so I have to explain the entire process… Crapaud would be the same for him I guess…
Cheers Tish.
I actually find it v. sad the a word like haystack should be meaningless to nos enfants. I grew up with haystacks (living next door to a big farm), and also remember the harvested sheaves of wheat being stacked in the fields in stooks. Now there’s a good word for you: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stook
I saw the last farm horses put to pasture, in retirement. But it’s all right. To each his/her own (world)
Hopping to the word right now.
Very good. As I was clicking I realised I didn’t know “stook”. Sometimes my English is so “mixed up” with American I’m not quite sure what to use. I would have said “stack”.
Asante sana Memsahib… 🙏🏻