backyard natives and immigrants

whenever i grow jerusalem artichokes lamb's quarters aren't far behind...there's a plant on the left of the jerusaem artichokes in the top photo...it's difficult to see but it's a different shade of green and had differently shaped leaves than the sunchokes...two native species with a seeming affinity for one another ( i really haven't noticed any on campus...but that whole situation is in need of explaining well beyond the appearance or lack of a plant ally ) lamb's quarters can be used a s a pot herb or as a sort of spinach-like vegetable...lots of vitamin c and a in them so we can add another native to the list of plants to watch for aberrant behaviors...it's an annual but native is native... ( there's a couple of teosinte plants there to the right...one perennial and one annual )...the second photo is of a bed of winter wheat that's ready to harvest ( and thresh and winnow ) so i know at least part of the first weekend in july will be devoted to...temperatures are still 100 + hereabouts so it will be an early chore...those are some of seamus' beans in front of the bed and yet more jerusalem artichokes...they will colonize...the third photo is of the squash plant that has found the sunflower...tendrils everywhere and another plant further down the row is nearing contact as well...no willow poles or maize stalks so the sunflowers will have to do...the last photo is of a row of scarlet runner beans, squash, and sun flowers at about 7:54 p.m. on a still warm july evening...the immigrants outnumber the natives but the natives here and on campus are what i will be keeping a close eye on. ______________________________________________________ 7-7-2012 3:55 a.m. in all of this i have foolishly neglected to point out that the sunflower is also a native plant and has been cultivated for its oily seeds by native americans and european colonists who also exported it back to the old world ( where it became a staple in my carpatho-rusyn granny's kitchen garden...she would recognize the plants in my yard easily and approve ) unknown in the old world it was used as an evasion of both taxes and church regulation of diet. ( see the blog entry "taxes, tithes, and new world crops" )