Back From The Dead

No, not me!

This time last year my lovely little azalea was withering and dying as it was under attack from the ribbon plant that had overtaken that patch of garden. I don't know what the proper name of the attacking ribbon plant is - it has long variegated leaves, dark green edges and white-yellowy-green down the middle, that resemble a ribbon hence the common (around these parts) name of ribbon plant. It's an insidious little bugger that looks quite pretty until it takes over the garden, spreads further than you could have dreamed, and strangles everything in its way. It's also not especially easy to remove. Brute strength and a good shovel are about the only measures known to work.

During the summer I spent many hours with that shovel digging and digging trying to remove the tuber-like roots and rid one small patch of garden of the plant. It took a good couple of days, and a heck of a lot of pain with some seriously big blisters, and I managed to fill up the trailer but I cleared the area I was trying to salvage, put in some agapanthas and attempted to sweet-talk my azalea. To be honest I didn't hold out too much hope but she (yes, the azalea is a she) held on and even appeared to rally a little. Then she faded and, last I checked, she wasn't looking too good.

Then... we had weeks of rain. Weeks. Of. Rain. Finally the rain cleared and as I wandered down to the clothesline to hang the out the sheets earlier this week I saw this.

She's back from the dead and looking fabulous.