This would be excellent for my garden... so fast growing :)
Does ayone have seeds?
Looking for Kudzu vine (Pueraria lobata) seeds
evert, you do NOT want to introduce kudzu to your land. It's awful and you have no idea what it can do. It can cover a whole house in a summer. There is no way to kill it. Please rethink getting and planting this, because someone will always give you what you want, but it's a curse where I live and we have lost valuable land to it that we can never get back.
No eihän tuo nyt ole alkuunkaan mukavaa.
hmm
excuse me?
Yes Tig, it's done much damage here in Tennessee too. It covers whole hillsides, trees and everything. It smothers everything in it's path. We call it "mile a minute" vine.
I saw that this summer when I went down south-It was amazing how far and high that stuff can climb-trees looked like dinosaurs all covered in green...evert dont plant it-it was everywhere and looked to be spreading FAST!
Its out of control down south!!!!
Maybe I just have to grow common morning glories, scarlet runner bean and hyachinth bean vine then.... :(
Have you thought of passiflora?
evert, there are thousands of gorgeous vines that grow very fast. But kudzu really is the most invasive plant ever. they brought it here to feed cattle, and it was a huge mistake. I'm very serious, there are hundreds of acres within 10 miles of my house that have been taken over forever by this stuff. I know you are a collector, but please rethink this one. You have to be responsible to your country, and all it would take is one seed getting loose.
and btw, kudzu isn't pretty.
Aimee, I've got 2 passifloras, and few seedlings, but... hmm. Anyway, I already got a cup adn saucer vine and will put some nice morning glories grow inside. (Like Milky Way, Carmen, Crimson Crambler) :)
Just thought kudzu would be easy to care, fast growing (sounds good to me), jne.
evert, this is what kudzu does: http://ist-socrates.berkeley.edu/~merchant/photos/kudzu.jpg
lantana, I just looked to see if you showed the blooms, and that is a horrible sight. Looks like something you would expect to see in a horror movie like "The Trifids", maybe mispelled. You expect them to make a frightening sound as they come to life and overtake all in their path, and that's not too far off reality. Along IH 20 in Louisiana, they look just like that. Totally smothered whole forests of pulpwood and hardwood.
But on the other hand, Evert lives in an area where winters would kill the kudzu, correct? It doesn't live here in middle Tennessee because it isn't cold-hardy enough to survive the winter. So perhaps it's not as bad of a choice as it sounds at first blush.
Having said that, I would still be very cautious about importing this vine into any country where it isn't a native. It has had devastating effects on the Southeastern United States since its introduction.
I think it would die here in winter, as we get snow and sometimes temperatures like -30 C...
EEKK!!! That link led to a really scary pic Lantana! Looks like a horror flik alright. We don't have it here, and I am so glad. I too live in a cold area, so it might not make the winters, but I wouldn't want to chance it. I have bindweed and that's horrid enough for me.
It gets cold here too in Southern Illinois, and that stuff just won't DIE!! Evil, vile stuff evert. When my dad was stationed in South Carolina, there were parts of the base that they had to actually give up because they were losing the fight to the kudzu. All there is now are square green leafy shapes...stuff that nighmares are made of!!! I think that if you grew it (even indoors, I bet that stuff would find its way out!!) your fellow Finlanders would be none to pleased, oh, none to pleased at all!
Kudzu can only grow where winters are mild, which occasionally happens even in Illinois. Here's a story that you might find interesting - check out the Kudzu section:
http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/peoria/gazette/0009-shorts.html
(Please don't get me wrong - I'm not advocating that we export this stuff anywhere :)
I just can't see why anyone would take a chance on this. It's dangerous if it gets established. It's not pretty. It has no function at all. There are 1000s of vines that are pretty, do have a place and deserve our attention. Who knows what weather changes could happen in the near future that might cause some mild winters and let this stuff get established. Can you tell I'm passionate in my hatred of kudzu??? Well, if you could see all the places around here that look just like that picture above, you would understand. Old homesteads gone. Whole houses covered. Acres and acres useless forever.
Be forewarned anyone willing to 'test' this horror. If it does get established YOU CANNOT KILL IT.
sorry, off my soapbox now
tiG, you're entitled to lug around that soapbox, considering that Kudzu is known as "The Plant that Ate Georgia". It does have some practical uses although its negative tendancies far outweigh any beneficial ones.
tiG I saw it when i went to Ga this summer to see my family.
It was unreal how it took over and just covers everythng in its path. I was told i grows a foot a day-unreal. I think roundup is in order. My sis just built a house in Al. abot 1/2 mile from her is the dreaded vine!
Do you think the Japanese were trying to get back at us!lol
I heard they brought it in because they wanted to stop erosion.?
Ya'll could move up here-we dont have any kudzu, just purple loosestrife and dandy-lions! =]
roundup won't kill kudzu. Burning won't kill it. They haven't found ANY kind of control yet. There are several reasons they say they brought it, erosion, food for cattle, etc. I think it's plants like this that caused the Australians and Hawaii to put such strict bans in importing plants.
Kudzu is the vine in your worst nightmare! The vine that ate the south. Has no problem with cold weather. Dies back and the next summer returns bigger and better. There is a place about a mile from me that was covered in Kudzu. Ground, trees, everything. They cleared the land and built a strip mall. The stuff is coming up thru the asphalt parking lot!
They say some weed killers make it grow better!
Kudzu does have an interesting history and a few good uses however.
Check this:
http://www.cptr.ua.edu/kudzu/
some cute stories there, and if I knew how to work with vines, I'd probably make a mint in baskets, but I can't help but hate this stuff. Not many here raise goats, and it really is eating my county. Sorry to be so very negative, I would just hate to see this happen anywhere else. Evert, you know I love ya, it's just that I hate kudzu even more than that:)
I think I don't want the kudzu anymore... :)
Anyway, we have many ugly plants here. I thik most of Finnish plants are justg weeds, only something is beautiful.. :(
Btw, I got the best number of my class (9½) of our 2nd English test, and it was harder than the 1st one.. :)
This message was edited Monday, Nov 26th 9:37 AM
wow!!! congratulations on the great score!!!!
yeah for evert! yahooooo!
great job!
psssssssss I think you get a A+ in flowers!!!!
100% +++
Wow, I'm impressed with that grade! I wish I was bilingual, and I admire the way almost every other country routinely teaches students a foreign language. I was so pleasantly surprised the first time I went to Italy. Dreading trying to communicate a problem with my room, I went to the desk and hesitantly asked if anyone spoke English. Every single employee did, and spoke it fluently! Shame on us, thumbs up to you!
Evert
Email me if you want passiflora's seeds.
vic
Nov 27, 2001
Don't think I can add anything that has not been said but kudzu is AWFUL. We have it EVERYWHERE here. Our neighbor down by the road doesn't trim back and every year we go down and cut to the fence. We pull it up by roots, etc. You cannot kill it. It's disgusting. Don't introduce something this terrible to your country........vic
Evert, good job on your test!
It was very interesting to read all about the kudzu vine. We had a scare last year, a patch of it was found growing about 20 miles from here. It was big news. I havent heard anything since, so I hope they were able to get rid of it.
I have driven down Mississippi and thru louisiana and the stuff is eerie...especially at dusk it looks like big old monsters at the side of the freeway
Evert...there is a vine named "velvet bean" mucuna that is an annual and looks like kudzu and grows really fast and bloom too although mine didn't but it is a really nice vine, I grew 2 this past summer on a trellis and just ordered more for next year...My DH cut alot of limbs off our large oak tree that left the patio with too much sun so next year we are going to build a gazebo type covering and grow these vines for shade... I have a pic if you want to see it!
Let me know!
Rebecca
Rebecca, I want to see it!
Evert, I am late on this conversation, but I am glad you have changed your mind. I have a neighbor that moved here from texas a year ago - she wanted to see what she could do with it too. I told her if she got that stuff started in our woods, I would never speak to her again. I beleive there is a huge fine for planting it here in Georgia. Nuff said.
Evert, a hearty congratulations on your test score! I agree with Aimee, I so admire those who can speak two, three or more languages fluently.
Imaseedpicker, I'd like to learn more about your vine and see photos if you've got any; would you put it in the plants database, too?
I am going to post it on the photos forum but it is not a good picture, I thought I had taken more but can't seem to find them!