Wednesday, 8:00 AM. 45 degrees, wind W, calm. The channel is calm, the sky mostly blue and the barometer again predicts rain. The Japanese knotweed pictured, locally called elephant ears, is considered an invasive non-native, and I don’t much care for it myself. This patch was cut down last year and the canes treated with a powerful herbicide, but here it is, back again as vigorous as ever. It looks like successive annual treatments will be necessary to eradicate it. But as is often the case, we should be careful what we wish for. This plant was introduced to Bayfield after the disastrous flood of 1942 to stabilize the ravine banks, and it has performed that task admirably. My feeling is that if we are going to eradicate it we should have a plan to replace it or we will be creating the erosion and flooding problems all over again.
I am picking up the native grasses and wildflowers for the Reiten Boatyard Condominium project today, and we will hopefully get them all planted tomorrow and Friday, and I may not post a blog for a few days.
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