The Passion of the Lawn

OK - I have a confession.

I prefer almost ANYTHING to doing yardwork.

There. I said it.

This beautiful purple flower is Passiflora incarnata, the passionflower. Pretty, huh?

I first saw this flowering vine at a gorgeous gardening center in Columbia, SC, about 10 years ago. The owners told me that it was the exclusive host for a particular species of butterfly, and I decided to take a sprig home and train it on a cast-iron trellis next to my deck.




And for 9 years, the gorgeous, rapid-growing passionflower vine grew and festooned my deck, and I had lots of little orange butterflies everywhere, and all was good.

But the gardening center folks neglected to tell me this little purple flower and its vine were invasive.

And this year, it has decided to make its move.

It is spreading out from my deck, and taking over my yard, and my hammock, and who knows what will be next?

It isn't even fazed by the current drought conditions, and it loves our 100 degree temps!

It even tries to trip me when I walk through the yard.


Here, Bailey has a face-to-face with the intruder.

Sure, it's pretty, but this is getting ridiculous.

I have NO idea how to get this under control. Of course, I could start by getting the yard mowed...

Here are some earrings I made last week - they even match the Passionflower!

PS - I have a secret! It's a really, really big secret, but if you want to know, post a comment here. If I see that you really want to know, I'll spill!