Patrick Murphy

Weeds
The issue of invasive weeds is closely associated with the impacts of developement.   Agriculture, construction, highways, housing developments, hiking trails, and even overgrazing by prairie dogs, are examples of the things that open up bare ground and allow the introduction of weeds.  It can be a little depressing when you see beautiful areas turn into weed patches, especially when you knew what was there to begin with.   I am done with depression and direct my energy toward change.

Stop the Seed
The state list of regulated noxious weeds is available at Colorado Department of Agriculture Division of Plant Industry.  Weed seed is still sold commercially even though it is illegal.  Here in Boulder I found two suppliers that had weed seed on their racks.  Sometimes the weed species are hidden in "wildflower mixes" or given bogus common names.   When you look at the Adobe .pdf file of the seed packets, notice the "Shasta" daisy on the front of the packet on the right, then check the scientific name on the back.  It is actually the noxious weed oxeye daisy.  I don't think this is intentional, but it wouldn't surprise me.  One of the suppliers took the seeds off the shelves immediately, the other argued for a while then complied.  A little confrontation (of the good variety) often works.

My Personal Target Weed
My personal target weed (though I work on other species as well) is Scotch thistle Onopordum acanthium.  Get some details at ColoradoWMA and CaliforniaDFA.  Note that the biocontrol recommended by CDFA is an insect that is known to attach native thistles - DON'T USE IT!!  See the bug discussion below.  See the map of the areas that I attacked last June 2000. 

June is the best month to work on this plant.  The plants that you chop near the base early in June will resprout, but you are still better off that if you had let the plant grow to the 4-7 foot height.  The "perfect" time to chop this biennial is when the first seed heads start to flower and the lowermost leaves start to wither.  If you chop the plant below the withered leaves, it will not resprout.  I am sure there are exceptions, but I have been doing this for 4 years now, and this seems to be the pattern.   Since there is much more to do than I can fit into the "perfect" time window, I start early, then return later to the areas I started with and do a quick clean up.

Bugs - In development.

Definition of Ecotone - a transition zone between two ecological communities usually exhibiting competition between organisms common to both.  In terms of biological communities, these "in between" areas are typically the most productive and diverse zones on the landscape.