Americans who haven't taken the advice of the well-known bumper sticker that proclaims, "Kill Your Television!" have very likely seen the Capital One TV ads that show some scruffy-looking barbarians invading and rampaging their way across the screen. I hope people don't extrapolate from these ads that barbaric invaders are always ugly. Many of the invasive plants at war with our native fauna are anything but that.

When you hear "invasive plant," you may think of something like kudzu. Not exactly a real "looker," is it? Nothing about the way kudzu looks would tempt you to plant some in your landscaping or show tolerance toward an existing patch of it. Unfortunately, as we survey the lineup of invasive plants, any correlation between looks and potential for invasiveness breaks down.

Today I want to share a resource that supplies photos of invasive plants, to aid you in identifying some of the "beautiful barbarians," if you will. My selections, which are as follows, are by no means meant to be exhaustive:

• Norway maples
• Silk trees
• Water reeds
• Creeping jenny
• Ajuga
• Vinca minor
• St. John's wort
• Dame's rocket
• Butter-and-eggs
• Common evening primrose
• Purple loosestrife
• Common ivy
• Trumpet creeper
• Privet
• Oriental bittersweet
• Bird's-foot trefoil

Read article: Invasive Plant Pictures

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I don't have fond memories of hardscape as a child. My knees seemed always to find a way to become skinned when I was around pavement. Whether it was due to a fall at recess when in school, or due to wiping out when biking on vacation, scabs weren't shy about keeping my knees company.

But Joe Norton says that scraped knees and knuckles don't always have to go hand-in-hand with hardscape. On Page 3 of this article on hardscape ideas with kids in mind, Joe shows a cool tunnel leading into a garden. The tunnel was made specifically to arouse kids' interest in the garden.

On Page 2 of the same article, the focus is on a mixed-hardscape feature that will capture children's imagination. Says Joe: "Kids love the different textures and colors that these materials provide." It's not as knee-friendly as the tunnel project but still well worth the trouble.

Read article: Hardscape Ideas for Children

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In about 2 weeks, February arrives, which means Groundhog Day 2012 is right around the corner. Let's be blunt. When it comes to Groundhog Day, there are two vocal camps -- one of which holds Groundhog Day to be the most insipid of holidays. I belong to the other camp, myself, and watch Groundhog Day on DVD religiously ever year. Groundhog Day 2012 will be no exception.

This article begins by discussing control measures you can take to prevent marauding woodchucks from devouring your garden. I then proceed to sketch Groundhog Day's historical background, before concluding with my thoughts on why Groundhog Day even matters, at all -- from a psychological perspective.

Bookmark "Did the Groundhog See His Shadow?" where, the morning of February 2, I'll post the answer for 2012.

Read article: Groundhog Day 2012

Bestow Your Wisdom on Us: How Do You Beat the Winter Blues?

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_{Photo courtesy PunxsutawneyPhil.com}

Plants can be special to us for a number of totally different reasons. First and foremost there are, of course, the various horticultural considerations. For example, we may value a plant because:

• It's easy to grow and helps us meet some landscaping challenge or other (drought, shade, pests, etc.)
• It looks great across multiple seasons
• In addition to looks, per se, it offers something to one of the other senses, such as a heady fragrance or (in the case of edible landscaping) a savory taste

But that is far from being the end of the story for those of us who are really "into" our plants. There are all kinds of emotional reasons why a given plant may be endearing to us (even if it's not exactly the flashiest plant on the block).

For example, we might feel a connection to a plant because:

• It was planted in memory of a special person or pet
• You associate it with some positive event in your life
• You associate it with a travel destination or childhood hangout that brings back pleasant memories

The latter is a compelling reason for me to be fond of bayberry shrubs. I associate them with Plum Island, one of my haunts as a boy. Bayberry displays its waxy gray berries in the wild there.

By the way, I'm referring to a beach in Massachusetts, not the Plum Island with which the greatest number of people are familiar, which is off the coast of Long Island. New York's Plum Island inspired a novel by the same name. Formerly the (active) home of the Plum Island Animal Disease Center, a secretive government research facility, that Plum Island has also been subject to lots of controversial speculation. For example, a non-fiction book named Lab 257 speculates that Lyme disease originated there.

So make no mistake about it: the Plum Island of which I have fond memories has nothing to do with that one!

Read article: Bayberry Shrubs

Bestow Your Wisdom on Us: How Do You Beat the Winter Blues?

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