Saturday, June 3, 2017

helianthus and vine

the top six photos are a cross section of the seventeen vines the fractured chinese yam had deployed since the original broke...some have leaves already deployed...others are biding their time...all of them are bent on growing, flowering, and reproducing...there may be need for a stronger trellis before the autumn arrives...three tomato stakes and a piece of jute twine will, i fear, prove inadequate to the need...the yam shares a bed with the relentless jerusalem artichokes ( bottom photo )...the sunchokes were expected...the yam was not...obviously it was biding its time even more patiently than some of its vines..they are both perennial...they are both invasive..in places both are classified as "noxious weeds"...they are both prolific reproducers...the jerusalem artichokes through the massive array of tubers it sets and the yams, while they do set tubers ( very deep..a pain to harvest ) reproduce through aerial bulbs that grow on all those vines...one below ground, one above...what worries me is what if the compliment each other...reach some sort of reproductive symbiosis? this is a dangerous line of contemplation..one supposes they would compete...however they each have their own reproductive niche...the competition may only be for sunlight and the vines can grow as tall as they need...we will watch with some interest...tinged with a bit of plant anxiety.

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