Bitter Melon or Balsam Apple Vine

 

A few of you asked what the yellow flower was in a prior post.

It seems this is a weed of Many Names.

Bitter Melon, Bitter Gourd, Bitter Squash, Balsam Pear, Balsam Apple

Take your pick of name.

I found that I had done 3 posts back in 2013, under, 

Balsam Apple Vine

Reading them again I found it is as fascinating now as 9 years ago.

I may have taken a few photos in the past few weeks of the gourds and how they srpead the seed to become INVASIVE WEEDS in Florida

These are the gourds, on the flower above, that are open now and i have to clean them up so Beau will not eat them. They are laying on a rusty metal table.

Small gourds bursting on the vine

Today we remember Jacob (Jakey) over the rainbow bridge Jan 30th.

Jakey lived with Rosy and Sunny and Angel Dory and 

angel Arty all part of  

LLB Backyard Gang.

Joining Nature Friday with Rosy at Adventures of the LLB Gang.. 

Friday Fences- MadSnapper back yard

There is a secret in the above photo...can you find it

While admiring the flowers and pods I realized the fence was pretty to.. well, it is to the MadSnapper

I call these God's decorations for our fence.

The secret in the first photo is I met Lena on the post and Leo on the rail...two lizards that had no name.

Balsam-Apple Vine -- Momordica charantia

Our front gate Weed has these beautiful green pods hanging all over the fence like ornaments.

the next day they turned orange..

And then...


 and THEN.....


 they BURST open and threw little red seeds all over the ground...

For some reason Bob was not nearly as excited as I was... he said it is making MORE WEEDS... OH GOODY MADSNAPPER SHOUTED

Since so many of you wondered what the vine was yesterday, I searched and found it is Balsam Apple vine and I found it is common in Florida, there is a whole site dedicated to how to remove it..Click Here to find it is here to stay.... it is a member of the cucumber family.

Fence Festooned with Finery

This week I found our front gate festooned with finery... Yes, it IS a WEED... and I love it. Baby was at the gate barking, I walked up to shut her up, and there it was, covered in tiny little yellow flowers.

I ran walked fast for the camera and came back and said to Bob

"Come see this amazing weed" his reply

"It is one of those weeds that stinks and takes over"

MadSnapper replies.. "do NOT touch that weed until I tell you to. 

and I spent 3 days SNAPPING..

Don't fret.... there is MORE TO COME... this weed has something I have never seen before, it has its very own ORNAMENTS

...to be continued.