Hop to it...

Dug up my hops vine this past weekend, because I don't plan on leaving it behind when we move. This is its second spring in its spot by the fence, it had just started coming up the week prior, and it had already grown about four inches so I figured I should get it up before it grabbed hold of anything.

You never really know a plant completely until you have to dig it up. This one had huge roots as thick as my thumb that didn't head down, but spread out like an octopus fairly shallowly under the soil. Roots headed out under my lavender, under the fence, and over to the roses. I thought I'd murdered it, because I probably reduced its root system by half when I dug it up. Then I had to coil all these snaky roots up to fit them in the biggest pot I had. It's four days later, though, and the plant's still going strong, except for one shoot that wilted. I even managed to leave a bit in place which is now happily climbing up its trellis.