by Samantha

Created on: April 05, 2007   Last Updated: April 29, 2007

It all started on a dreary day last winter when I decided to plan out my first garden. I labored over the plans, drawing and redrawing until I had pages upon pages of shapes and plans of gardens. Books were scattered everywhere - I wanted my first garden to be perfect!

In my final plans there was a bare spot that I never could find the perfect plant to cover, so I left it hoping to run across something at the nursery. I ordered plants, has good soil brought in, and planted my plants, but the bare spot was still there!

One day I noticed how nice my parents boxwoods looked with with a vine discretely growing through them with occasional white blooms. So I asked what it was. Morning Glory was the reply. I dug some up and planted them to cover my bare spot until I could figure out what else to do - Oops!

The 'discrete' morning glories took over. They ran through all my plants, completely covering some. They cascaded down walls, hiding my beautiful English Ivy. They crept into the grass, causing my husband to fuss. In the fall, I pulled and pulled until none were left, or so I thought.

Imagine my surprise when I walk into my garden one morning this spring to see little vines everywhere! I started pulling them out immediately. One evening, my daughter and I spend an hour and a half pulling out the terrible morning glories!

I'm hoping we'll get them all out this year. But I learned my lesson to be patient and wait for that perfect plant for a bare spot, and to do my research.

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