We’ve hit lawn-mowing season, and now is time to start looking for knapweed in earnest. Sure, the purple flowers make identifying the plant much easier, but knapweed’s color is a pretty good clue, especially in areas where you’ve seen it in the past. Waiting for the weed to flower risks some surviving to go to seed, and it’s far better to get them before they have the chance. Start early in the season, and then, keep at it.
Why fight the knapweed? Because it’s a nasty invasive species with a real talent for killing off other plants, and because it takes years to get on top of a knapweed infestation.
Read our article on the topic, from August when the knapweed was painting the slopes along the road purple.
Knapweed, my current enemy.
At this time of year, many hill-slopes have turned a sharp pink-purple color. Whether you’re in Glacier or driving along 93, you’ll see its flowers in the cuts alongside the road. Here in Trego proper, you can often find it in ditches, or there’s an abundant field of it downslope from the Trego Pub. Knapweed.…
Trego's Mountain Ear 