Arrrgh!!!

*laughing* So, that's what happened. Morning glories are so invasive (they look like, and must be related to, bindweed!) that I couldn't imagine your having a problem growing them. Now we know...the rest of the story. (Sorry about laughing over your troubles; but it IS funny!) *laughing*

I bet they were laughing as they chewed!

Ya know.....come to think of it....we don't even have any bind weed. THe Bionic Bunnies must have eaten all of that too.

Hmmm...maybe that's what the bunnies are munching back in our "meadow"--bindweed! Goodness knows that I spend enough time fighting it in the planted areas. (Bindweed, Johnson grass, hen bit, creeping charlie....)

You need a high fence or a greenhouse to grow them morning glories it seems! No doubt they may well have grown partially in the past, only to be eaten up by some critter.

YOU ARE NOT A FAILURE, you are just sharing your gardening with nature.

Cop Car...if they are munching the bind weed, are they spreading it??

THANK YOU, Desiree! I have a circle of chicken wire. I'm going to go buy two more plants, and wrap them in the chicken wire, and see if I may be a SUCCESS this year! *G*

I shouldn't think that the bunnies could spread the weed. After all, they aren't eating the seeds! (I know, I know, bindweed spreads rapidly through root runners, too.) I keep picturing in my mind morning glories wrapping about the guy wires that held up telephone poles out along the cow pasture perimeter. They are pretty--so delicate looking (deceiving!)

Oh. Right. Yes, I have similar images of morning glories and of bindweed. Nan has gown moon vine, and that has a similar look, but the flowers open at night.

I have a way to foil them....HARDWARE cloth! I'm going to try one more time.

Come to think of it, Jimson Weed flowers are huge, but the same trumpet shape as morning glories and bindweed. One of the neighbors up the street has Jimson Weed growing as an ornamental. Wonder if s/he knows what it is. Also Called Loco Weed from the way cattle act after injesting.

From
http://www.doitnow.org/pages/525.html

"Medical Uses: Because of its anticholinergic properties and antispasmodic effects, Jimson weed was used in traditional medicine to treat a variety of illnesses. Today, extracts are still used in treating asthma, intestinal cramps, and both diarrhea and bed-wetting."

Most likely not, Cop Car. I grew Loosestrife for a number of years before I discovered that it was an invasive plant that was not original to this area. You can see stands of cat tails loosing headway to loosestrife along our highways.

You may be the only one who has mentioned Loosestrife to me. I need to find a photo. Obviously, I would not have known. (I didn't know that purple winter creeper was invasive and a nuisance until after I paid hundreds of dollars to have it put in as part of the landscaping! *chagrinned look*

OMG!! WOuldn't you think a reputable landscaper would have warned you that it was invasive? I'd be ticked in a MAJOR way! I planted "soapwort," which is also known as "Bouncing Bet," and it's the MOST invasive thing I've ever grown, with any mint or member of the mint family coming in second.

I found a good page at Google, but Moveable Type won't let me print the address. I've mailed it to you. *S*

Thanks, Buffy. Yes, I should think that landscapers would know better--but, at least two of them in this area, do not! I spent an afternoon Googling sites for invasives. Of course, it is zone-specific as to what is invasive. I've learned to read catalogues a little more critically, too. If they say that something is not fussy about soil or weather conditions, or if they tout its ease to grow, I know I'm looking at a potential invasive. Mints are infamous. Unfortunately, some of us aren't smart enough to think about a plant's being a mint unless "mint" is part of its common name.

I usually don't have to worry about invasives with our harsh winters, clay soil and my inattentiveness - I couldn't even get mint to live for more than 2 years, much less spread.

The only things I have had trouble with, are both things I didn't plant; milk weed and bee balm. The milk weed came from the neighbor and I have no idea where the bee balm came from.

Soapwort does grow wild around here though (I have it in the back yard) and some years is more prevalent than others.

I have some goosnecked loostrife (white), which grows nicely in a rockwall. It only seems to spread by runners around here, so is easily contained.

I guess I should add that I actually have more trouble with perennial geraniums than with the gooseneck loosestrife (they are neighbors in the rock wall). I have pulled up geraniums that are growing in the driveway for crying out loud. However, I have gotten transplants to put in other areas that way, so I can't complain too much!

That's absolutely astonishing, Bogie. I have NEVER seen a volunteer geranium in all my gardening, and I live in a much more forgiving climate. The only loosestrife I've actually seen is the variety that is invading our wetlands, and the supposedly sterile ones I planted. I can think of other plants that must look similar to the gooseneck loosestrife, but they'd be too big for a rockwall, I think.

Bogie, milkweed grows and spreads naturally in areas where we don't mow. I like to collect the dried seed pods in the winter for arrangements.

I'd think some critter has to be helping you with the spread of the bee balm; that or wind blown seed.

We have awful clay here, too. I have a suggestion for you, but I'll blog about it because it's too long for the comment box.