Saturday, November 2, 2013
The Yearly Bittersweet Quest
Every year about this time I enjoy scavenging for bittersweet to make wreaths and swags for decoration. I just love the colorful bittersweet vines at this time of the year. Unfortunately, it is getting harder and harder to find bittersweet around here because our dear Minnesota DNR has decided that this plant is a 'noxious weed' and they have tried to eradicate it with lots of sprays - and they have just about done it, too! About the only place to find this colorful vine is on someone's private land or at the edges of woods. Wreaths made with this plant can last a couple years if you carefully pack them in a box and don't disturb it much. Last year I made a very small swag because I couldn't find much, but this year I found enough to make a nice wreath! What do you think? I have this hanging on my back porch. To me, this says "Fall" like nothing else, and the price is right, too - free!
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2 comments:
Well, gee! I have some growing in the backyard. I'm going to pull mine out because it's a non-native, invasive species (which is harmful to the native plants). But, the real bummer is that it grows like kudzu and will take over everything. So I just want to keep things under control. I'll save what I cut for you! I might not get to it this year, but next year.
Since I wrote the article, I found a really GREAT source of bittersweet growing out in a country area by the woods. There's about a 1/2 mile stretch of it on some private land (but it's on an abandoned farm, and nobody has touched the bittersweet this year). I'm sure the landowner would let me take some. I don't think it really grows all that well up here in the cold temps, because it grows very sparsely.
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