June 23, 2009

July 14, 2009

Goatsbeard (Salsify)

Salsify is actually the name that is more recognizable. I now know why my step-Dad, Bill, has a dislike for this particular “wildflower”. Even though the seed pod made for a fun and pretty photo, in reality, the salsify gone to seed look like dandelions on steroids. And I can see that a lot of them make for a takeover, so much so that in Colorado, where my folks live, Salsify is considered a noxious weed.

I recently had my woods sprayed for noxious weeds. I first walked the woods with Bob and Tana Gornick who did the spraying. It was an experience I anticipated with low expectations only to be surprised at how fascinating it was. Bob and Tana are retirement age and spend Winters in Arizona, but they are Montanans with their own woods and acreage. Noxious weed eradication without destroying any more than necessary of natural flora and fauna is a passion of theirs and I LOVE passionate people so we had a wonderful time!

I had the woods logged two years ago for the health of the trees and fire defensibility. Bob Love, Confluence Timber, who did the logging is a man who loves trees, woods and the land with an incredible and knowledgeable passion. Before he left, we walked the woods and he instructed me to get some grass seed on the areas that were turned up from the logging equipment. New weeds, exposed to new and favorable conditions, were likely to grow. Good vegetation is the best defense against “bad” vegegation. I did as told.

Bob and Tana said they had never seen a woods that looked so healthy and full of good stuff so soon after logging. Still, there were patches here and there of noxious weeds. I had tried to keep up by pulling as I saw them, but a few areas were close to being out of hand and there were some things I hadn’t recognized as noxious. We agreed on a plan of backpack spot spraying with only 3 small areas of broadcast spraying.

Broadleaf weed killer is to vegetation as antibiotics are to bacteria … good things are killed along with the bad. The less broadcast spraying, the better.

It has been almost 3 weeks since the weeds were sprayed. Most of the noxious weeds are dead or dying. I pull anything that is noxious as I see it. I learned from Bob and Tana to recognize the young versions of the noxious weeds. I also learned of a few things that I didn’t realize were noxious.

But the Goatsbeard/Salsify…in Montana, it is not classified as noxious. It is a butterfly attractant…so far.

Beauty and the Beast: weed or wildflower?