The Battle of the Burrs

 Yes, burrs. I removed two thistle plants leftover from last year, and two burdock plants from the back lawn. I should have done it before the snow melted around them. The thistle is in the near middle of the photo to the left of the water fountain, which is still wrapped for winter. I did remove the Christmas lights from it last week. It was time!

Burrs are an effective means by which plants are dispersed. There are two types of dispersal: endozoochory and epizoochory. The first is when animals swallow fruit and seeds, and secrete the seeds out the other end. The last type is what the burdock burrs do: they use little hooks and barbs to stick to the outside of the critters, and the animals transport them on their coats.

The burrs stick to everyone!

You can see the burdock plant skeleton in the lawn. This was when we had more snow. 

My scarf is a bit of a mess.My coat looks pretty bad, too! I am waiting for some sunshine to sit on the front deck and remove them. 

It is an invasive species, sadly. 

"Arctium is a genus of biennial plants commonly known as burdock, family Asteraceae. Native to Europe and Asia, several species have been widely introduced worldwide." Wikipedia

By Prosthetic Head - Own work, 
CC BY-SA 4.0, Link

This is where the daffodils will come up! This is from April 21st, last year. We had some late snow, but the daffies survived. 

Unfortunately, aside from the burrs that stuck to me, there are a ton of burrs on the ground. This is where I intend to plant my veggies.

Not too long until I remove the tarp and get the water fountain going.

🍃seeds grow

In the bathroom I've got some coleus, strawflowers, pansies, and lupin. 

coleus

The zinnia I removed as they were becoming too long and falling over. I'm out of practice with this, but it did me good to plant them!