Little succulent surprises keep popping up in my pots and in my mesemb garden. Seeds, hitching a ride on the wind, splashing
with the water, traveling with the soil, and catapulting through the air, are coming up where I didn't put them. Weeds?
That has such a harsh ring to it. Still, I guess that is what they are. Needless to say, I treat these particular weeds
different than their unwelcome compatriots the dandelions, grasses, spurge (non-succulent types of course), knotweed, and
lambsquarters.
I have been keeping an eye on these weeds for some time now and when conditions are right, they can be almost as bothersome
as the "real" kind. In the ground I find that some Drosanthemum will seed quite well, as will some Glottiphyllum,
Delosperma, Pleiospilos, Aridaria and Marlothistella (These are all mesembs, which is what I grow - mostly). Others
require more care and become weeds in pots where water and warmth are more consistent. Euphorbia, Bergeranthus,
Aloinopsis, Anacampseros, Disphyma, and even Pelargonium have moved about among my pots.
Cacti in general are not good weeds, at least in my garden. I have had a few errant cacti come up in pots, but have not had
any in the ground despite loads of neglected fruit scattered on the ground.
Though the fate of a weed is often not a good one, many of my succulent weeds find a new home in a pot or in their own plot
of ground and live out the rest of their days in respectability.
