Why is it that sometimes there are plants that you can't keep alive while at other times there are plants that you can not kill?
This is a thought that runs through my head a lot as I work around my property. Of course there are probably many technical reasons for this phenomenon, that are specific to every incident, but it just seems to be “the way” no matter what technique, plan and procedure i think of.
An example of this is what my family calls “Jenn's Wild Grapevine”. In 1991, as a teenager, I received a table grape cutting from my now husband's aunt. I dutifully planted in my little section of the family's vegetable garden alongside a wildflower mix and a few squash. Now 32 years later it is still growing strong, often much to my mother's feigned dismay! In order to prevent this prolific vine from taking over the whole garden plot she has cut it, poisoned it, dug it out, let the goats graze it, basically every eradication technique she could think up…and it still pops up every year. Contrast this with the small vineyard we are growing on our land. We nurture, water and fertilize at the optimum moment and still lose many a year.
Randomly popping up.
I now know that the prolific grape at my mom's house is now just a really tough rootstock, not the fancy table grape that i had originally planted and that our vineyard vines are a modern Cabernet Sauvignon variety, so they have much different husbandry needs. Somehow these grapes trigger thoughts of gardening philosophy that tumble through my head as I work around my yard.
It is a comforting thought to me that when me and my family and pampered vineyard are long gone from this land my wild grapevine will still be flourishing.
