ray & i like to feed the birds.
we have a hummingbird feeder that is very popular (and is, in fact, the cause of many hummingbird dive-bomb fights, each thinking there isn't enough sugar-water to go around) as well as a seed feeder for the other birds, which we usually fill with sunflower seeds.
i was cleaning out our pantry the other day, though, and found a half-empty bag of mixed seed (corn, sunflower, millet, etc.) and decided to add it to the seed feeder.
a couple of weeks later we have what looks like corn growing in the bed behind the house, just below the feeder. despite having grown up in indiana, corn capital of the universe, i still cannot determine for sure whether it's actually corn, or just a very, very odd weed. what do you think it is? here's a corn close-up if that helps.
there's another new plant growing there too, right next to the corn. the leaves are really pretty, and --ray laughs when i say this-- organized-looking. to me this looks prettier than just a weed. but i have no idea what it is. this morning i noticed a couple of tiny yellow flowers beginning to bud, too.
ray & i have had seed feeders in our yard for years and years, and never any weird plants as a result. i'm truly confounded. i'm extremely reluctant to yank them out, though, as i want to see what they become.
(you can click the photos to make them big)
Posted by xta at August 26, 2005 10:21 AM | TrackBackI'm struggling with the weed issue myself.....I planted tons of stuff in my garden and I can't tell the difference between plants and weeds (sort of a philisophical problem I guess...). Your "corn" looks sort of like something that was growing amongst my hostas....that I thought was a baby hosta.
Posted by: lainey at August 26, 2005 10:55 AMLooks like corn except that the stalk isn't quite right. Could be some random seed corn or something engineered as feed.
my definition of plants: things you actually plant. purposefully.
Posted by: christa at August 26, 2005 03:45 PMi think that part of the yard gets partial to full shade, due to the trees and the house, so it may not be developing the way corn in a field, that gets full sun all day, would develop.
i've seen it in person and i think that is definitely corn. i've walked through a lotta cornfields.
Posted by: lisa at August 26, 2005 05:23 PMThat looks an awful lot like corn. Though you won't actually get any edible corn from it since it needs other corn to do that. But, how fun!
christa forgot to mention about the thing with pretty leaves: they fold up closed at night.
gidge my bro and i are driving through tampa to sarasota tomorrow. wave to us from the side of the road in st. pete.
Posted by: ray away but makin' hay ubinger at September 2, 2005 09:59 AMIt's called; wild proso millet. It's from the bird seed that you put out for the birds.
No,the plant that looks like corn is the millet. Sorry, i should have been more specific. I'm not sure about the round plant, but will keep looking.
Posted by: Robin at September 7, 2005 08:07 AM