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[15_the_circle]

[OT from cottage renovations]

any time I'm heading out for a walk or errand around the Grove or its environs I just about never leave without bringing along a camera.  there are Grovers who probably wonder whether it would have to be surgically removed and I would probably agree with them.  assuming, of course, there were a reason to do without it ...

this time of year the other essential item is a selection of hand tools for incidental wayside gardening.  our parks and the verges of the walkways are under a constant attack from invasives: ivy (both poison and English) and wisteria on the trees, and in any crevices or other spots the tractor mowing can't reach there spring forth masses of garlic mustard, ailanthus, multiflora rose, barberry, honeysuckle and wineberry. 

(click through these thumbnails for higher resolution images)

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Jackson Park

here are some of the latter:

Rubus phoenicolasius

one is moved to ask: "are there enough spines on this?  couldn't there have been a way to accommodate a few more?" 

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I'll need to recover a bit more use of shoulder to get back to pickaxe and heavy loppers, essential for dealing with honeysuckle and its ilk.  but even without them there's plenty to be done with lesser tools, so much so that some days I come back without any images. 

if only there were more to show for my efforts.  often I can't see any visible difference.  but there's no point in giving up, not even against the inevitable; if I didn't do anything at all, surely it would be that much worse. 

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Amazing the difference the direction of lighting makes. (I like the color variation in the second one.)
But YES---keep up the good fight. Just because it resembles the labors of Sisyphus is no reason to give in to these invasives. Your work is noted and appreciated by many of us.
m_lightfoot

[nienna-nineve.livejournal.com]

Ooh. Love the textures in these two shots! The colours are quite fascinating too, and I especially like the way you can catch a deep, mauvish hint of the red tones in the backlit photo.

[15-the-circle.livejournal.com]

thank you, I'm happy to learn you were pleased with the image. 

though I go after the invasives whenever I can with clippers, pliers, lopper and pickaxe, nonetheless they have interesting forms and get equal treatment the the purpose of image collection.  and despite whatever I manage to get done by way of futile attempts at eradication, there's always plenty of material available.