oh there will be rouges

this people...this is what happens when you leave your jerusalem artichoke too late in the season...or, rather, wait until next season to dig them...it is also why they are a profoundly invasive plant...particularly here on home turf...the top photo is of the last two remaining jerusalem artichokes..i knew it was too late when i popped the root ball of one out and saw...roots...not dead, dry tendrils but juicy new ones ready to grab hold and run to summer...seventy-six tubers from two plants ( third photo ) and all of them rooting away (last two photos )...i planted tubers on the north side of the bed ( they were on the south side last year and they provided entirely too much shade fro the rest of the plants in their turf...so i moved them this year )...but it is clear to me that we are in possession of a dangerous overflow not to mention the fact that i could not have possibly retrieved all the tubers...there will be rouges to control as well...the climate is changing despite what the deniers deny and one reason i began to grow native perennial varieties of plants was to see what impact there might be...the drought year of 2012 played havoc with the production of these tubers...clearly the wet summer of 2014 did not...this year's data will be recorded and kept for comparison...this could take a while.