The Vine
While working in the yard today, I noticed one of our giant bushes looked a little peaked. In fact, the entire top half of the thing was dead. Brown. Beyond help. What happened? I knew there were some viney plants at the base of the bush all summer, but didn't think much of them. A few leaves, a few feet of vine...nothing to worry about. Besides, this vine had beautiful red berries and delicate purple and yellow blossoms - it was a thing of beauty! I hadn't paid any attention until the bush was half dead. So I put on some gloves, reached into bush, and pulled back a few branches to discover the vine was killing the bush! Now, it may seem silly to you that we hadn't noticed this, but the vine grew invisibly, stealthily, wrapping itself around and around the trunk and branches of the bush until it choked off its life-source. And why in the world am I telling you about this? Why would you have any interest in a vine choking a bush in m...