Like every gardener, I grow plants I thought could never die. They thrived despite my abuse, neglect, and the erratic Montana climate. I fully expected these hardy few to be the last flora left if there's ever a time when only cockroaches inhabit theearth. Many of my plants require coddling to get through our early-summer snowstorms and months without rain. But for many years, annual poppies (Papaver spp. and cvs.), oregano (Origanum vulgare, USDA Hardiness Zones 4-9), artemisia (particularly Artemisia ludoviciana 'Silver Queen', Zones 4-9), and creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia, Zones 4-8) approached weed status in my garden. The poppies quickly reseeded regardless of what grew next to them. The oregano burst out of its allotted space during long, hot days when everything else withered. Silvery artemisia crept underneath its raised beds, sending snakelike roots through my bark-covered paths, and the creeping Jenny spilled over the rock edging to maneuver its way into neighboring areas. They were bullies disregarding the space of everything else in the garden.
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