Weed Watch - False Alarm

I'm constantly on the lookout for weeds in my yard because, well, I constantly have weeds in my yard.

And I hate them.

I can say that my yard is finally more grass than weeds this season. And it's very pretty grass, too, I might add. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that I have an actual lawn this year, y'all.

It's awesome.

But weeds still pop up in the yard from time to time, and in my flower beds. It's just a way of life.

This week I noticed a new kind of weed sprouting up around the rocks by my front door.



I get lots of weeds in that spot at about this time of year. But after I spray them a few times, they go away until next year.

What I saw there this week, however, was something I hadn't seen in that spot before. I put big rocks there for the main purpose of smashing down any potential weeds. So really, there's not a lot of room for anything to grow there.

That's my plan.

Last night I went out with my jug of Round Up weedkiller to hit the weeds in the flower beds, in the cracks of my driveway, and in the cracks of my sidewalks. These are the things that I obsess about as a somewhat OCD gardening-yardening enthusiast. Included in my weed rampage for last night was the rock section by the front door. I've been meaning to do this for a couple of weeks, but I keep forgetting.

I made my way around the beds, sidewalk, and driveway, then I made my way over to the rocks.

And then, I looked closer.



It's not a good picture, but y'all, those are BEGONIAS peeking out from around the rocks.

Um, what???

First, I LOVE begonias. I plant them every year in the planter in my front yard, and they never let me down.

But second, um, I've never planted ANYTHING by the rocks, much less UNDERNEATH the rocks. I've lived here for almost four years and all that has ever been in that spot during that time are rocks, and weeds. Plus, gallons of Round Up in that spot over the course of the past four years, which according to my gardening expertise, should kill everything that would even think about trying to live there.

Other than weeds. They never get the hint.

So the mysterious appearance of begonias in the rock bed, while I am THRILLED about it, I am also asking the question: How did they get there?

I'm perplexed.

Begonias don't typically germinate (is that the right word?), like pollen. They also don't tend to... procreate. You know, in the sense of making begonia babies that one day go off, leave the nest, and begin families of their own.

So it's unlikely that the begonias in the nearby planter jumped overboard, landed (again) UNDERNEATH the rocks, and decided to wait for four years to show themselves.

Begonias do grow quickly and spread where you plant them to make healthy, full shrub-type pieces of floral magnificence. But again, they don't typically sprout off from where they are contained and start new villages in the New World. They aren't explorers.

Also, squirrels and rabbits don't typically carry begonias from place to place, planting them for me. I do have rabbits and squirrels in the yard. But I don't see them taking it upon themselves to work in my rock bed to make up for all the years of digging holes in my flowerbeds.

I wonder if begonias were planted there before four years ago, went into hiding right before I moved in, worked out a pact with the weeds and sent weeds up for the past four years just to see what I would do, THEN decided to surprise me by peeking out from under the rocks this week.

Yep. That's gotta be it. It's the only thing that makes sense.

C.T.

P.S. I did not spray the non-weed Begonias with Round Up.