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Wednesday, June 12, 2013

The Dreaded Whirlygig

Sure, it looks innocent enough, sitting all by itself in the grass. But, don't let it fool you. It wants to take over the world, leaving nothing in it's wake except for maple trees.


Remember Bob, my barking squirrel? He does his best, eating the ones that fall into the garage gutters. But, there are just too many.

This is what they do.
They show up every spring and wait for just the right time to make their move.
All they need to some wind and they are off.

Next they need a good spot to land, preferably moist, bare earth.
Than, they do their thing.
They sprout little baby maple trees.






 Now, this year has been a great year for the whirlygig. The plan is working.

The perfect storm for them-
Lots of wind from storms going just the right direction.
Lots of rain to make the earth moist.
Lots of fertile bare earth in which to sprout.
This is my garden, full of little trees.

It is too wet to till and too wet to hoe much.
When it starts to dry out to get in, it rains again.

Where all the little trees are is where my sweetcorn is supposed to be.

I will not be overrun!
Those trees are going down!

17 comments:

  1. When we were kids, we used to call them "helicopters" and were entranced as they fluttered on a breeze.
    Now that I'm an adult (allegedly), I am no longer entranced as they cover my deck, invade my pool, and clog my gutters. Plus, I can't vacuum them up, because they jam up the hose. Oh, I still call them "helicopters," all right.
    Effin' helicopters.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Al, once they were pretty cool. Have you had them sprout in your gutters too? Nothing like having trees growing on your house.

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    2. Oh yeah, forgot about the gutters.
      Like I said...
      Effin' helicopters.

      Delete
  2. Wow, Iowa is truly a world of wonders, Maple tree wonders that is.....:)

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  3. Alex, Iowa is something all right.

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  4. I never heard of such a thing. That's amazing and to think out here in the nurseries, maple trees are expensive. You should pot them all, and start a online business, selling these little sprouts!!!

    Wow I learned something today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Coffee Lady, learning something is always good.
      If I could sell them all, I'd have a nice pile of money.

      Delete
  5. My kids love whirligigs! We call them helicopters. They think it's cool to throw them up in the air and watch them spin down.

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    Replies
    1. Sherry, I used to think they were neat too. If they didn't sprout so much, I would still love them.

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    2. Whew! I'm glad we weren't the only ones who called them 'helicopters.'

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  6. Hmm, I've never seen or heard of whirlygigs. In fact, I'm still not sure what it is. I suppose it's for the best, right, Ruth?

    xoRobyn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's basically a seed pod that comes from maple trees. They float in the wind and sprout wherever they land.

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    2. Sounds like some guys I knew in the Navy.

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  7. You are just the woman to do it!

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    Replies
    1. Gail, I got rid of some today. Then it started to rain.

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  8. I never thought of them as being bad guys, just fun little buggers to throw up in the air and watch them spin. Certainly though, I can see why you don't want to have to yank 1000 of them out of your garden! You didn't prep that ground for a swarm of trees.

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    Replies
    1. Sherilin, we usually get some but never this many. Hopefully we can till them up this week. I used to have fun with them too.

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Thanks for commenting.