Vine With Yellow Flowers And Green Seed Pods

Q: I have a vine growing from inside my boxwood. It has very tiny yellow flowers and little green seed pods hanging from the vine. I can’t get to the base of the plant because the boxwood is so big and up against the house. 

A: I think you have creeping cucumber, Melothria pendula. Unlike a common cucumber, it is perennial and continues to come up from its roots each year. Pull it off the bush and reach down as far as you can along the vine to grab it from the soil. If you are persistent you’ll get control by next fall.