Originally Posted by
lynnie
years ago I worked in a company, and a woman i'd talk to on the phone for work said some were as big as cars, and worse yet, they'd pick up any type of garbage along the way, like tin cans and household garbage, so when they hit your car, they would also scratch it. is it true or was she just pulling my leg?
they grow big here. will definitely scratch your rig when driving through them on highway. i've never seen them with any debris in them. hubs took a pic of me holding tips of a pair of huge tumbleweeds, one on each side of me, while we were cleaning up after winter windstorms. they were as tall as me @ 5' 3".
tumbleweeds are the dead/dried form of russian thistle, an asian immigrant that entered USA with grain shipments in 1800's. they grow well here where i live in arid desert like region of south central eastern washington state. they are nasty prickley when dried, but for me they are worse when green and just start growing. i get rash on arms & legs when i'm pulling them out of gardens, grapevines and fruit trees.
...but they have the most beautiful blossoms of heather like flowers in aug/september. i wish i could post a pic here of a hillside i photographed & sent to my son a few years ago. but i can't get pics small enough using my ipad.