A large plant I pretend isn't there
Do you have a large plant in your garden you pretend isn't there?
I'm pretending that large Lantana is not there. Once upon a time it was a plant in a 4" pot. I realized it wasn't one of the dwarf type of Lantanas, so I stuck it somewhat behind a Leucodendron so it could die in peace. And it didn't. The glowing golden flowers look wonderful, but--I don't like it. Lantanas have a rank fragrance and look awful all winter. And their stringy stems are hard to chop into submission. And that smell.
Do you chop back one of your neighbor's plants invading the sanctity of your space?
I have to chop the neighbor's Bignonia capreolata 'Tangerine Beauty' every couple of weeks all spring and summer. It grows better on my side of the wall, I think, because that's where the most sun hits.
It's a lot of chopping:
Do you work at a small garden task that no one else will ever notice, but that gives you great satisfaction?
The 'Ebony' Lagerstroemias had many tiny dead twigs on their stems. I spent time flicking them all off. The 'Ebony's look so much better--sleeker--but surely I'm the only one on Earth who would ever notice. But I notice!
Do you aid critters? This gorgeous green lady and her thorax full of very valuable future bad pest killers was ready to crawl into the green waste bin.
Nooooooooo!!
I gently gave her a lift to 'Molineux' rose. A far finer place to lay those precious eggs, dear lady!
I do weird stuff in the garden. I guess I'm playing, really.
Do you play out there?
Yes to all of your ?'s. I moved Ms. Mantis off our back door window yesterday, in fear she would get hurt. Chopping the Bignonia every few weeks is considerable, but I understand why you keep at it. I go to town on the overhanging Pomegranate, olive and pepper trees. Getting the dead twigs out definitely makes a difference- your garden always looks tidy (and beautiful). Your dedication to your garden shows! 100%, lantana odor is terrible.
ReplyDeletei don't take many pictures of my messy garden spots. Too depressing!
DeleteI do a LOT of tidying up things of no one else is likely to notice. It's an obsessive habit I haven't managed to lick. I'd have probably left that Lantana in place, though - I don't have a great sense of smell so they don't bother me and they do look nice when they spring back with flowers after I've obsessively cut back all their seeds ;)
ReplyDeleteLantana is good at building up a mass of dead thatch if it's not hacked back to the ground--dead thatch--no like. There are big hedges of Lantana throughout the neighborhood--an inch of green cover and flowers over like 6' of dead stuff----yeech!
DeleteWow I guess I'm weird about Lantana. Who knew?
Oh, I definitely play out there, and I answered "yes" to all your questions. Tee hee. I'd have to think about some of them to give definite answers. But the question about plants I pretend aren't there brings to mind some non-native ground covers I let go because I enjoyed them in their spots, even though they were a little too enthusiastic. In the past couple of years, however, I've allowed native Violets take over, and they've competed nicely. I love Lantanas, but I don't notice the smell, and they die off during our winters. Fun post!
ReplyDeleteYour comment inspired me to investigate Violets native to your general area -- there are some lovely ones. There are actually a couple native to Southern California, probably they grew in the low places of our coastal scrub and grasslands where the winter rains kept the soil moist for a time. I wonder if I could get any of those going--they vanish into dormancy in our dry summers of course.
DeleteYes to all of this, isn't that what makes us gardeners? I pretend our lame street trees aren't there. I so wish the city would let us replace them with something better, or maybe just take them out altogether and let the Arctostaphylos in the front garden shine.
ReplyDeleteYour beautiful 'Austin Griffiths' Arctostaphylos in your front garden inspired me to plant...let's see...I'm up to three of them...in my garden, all lovely and more lovely each year! Thanks!
DeleteGuess I am one of those weirdos that likes the smell of lantanas. Reminds me of a warm summer day as a kid. I do all sorts of things that no one ever notices, and yes, I am tired of the neighbor's trees shading my garden. But, I've got no control over that, so shade it is.
ReplyDeleteYou have a happy memory associated with the Lantana scent, so of course it's not weird, it's a happy memory!
DeleteI'm lucky--this garden is placed such that it doesn't get shaded--I do get Eucalyptus globulus crud blown in, tho.
It's always something!
Like Jerry, a mauled lantana leaf brings back good, scented childhood memories. Why don't you remove that annoying shrub? Unlike the neighbor's encroaching vine, you hold the power over it.
ReplyDeleteExcellent work on Ebony's dead twiggy bits: it looks much better without them.
I rescue lady bugs and snails that end up in my yard waste bin. I simply can't let them perish in that awful way...
Chavli
Haven't removed it (yet) because the flowers really are lovely--glowing gold in the autumn light, and because lots of small native butterflies feed on the flowers. I'm pro-small-native-butterfly. One of the plants in the garden that are really for the critters not the gardener.
DeleteCan't say I do anything nice for snails in this garden, though with the rats and raccoons around, we don't have many. Lady bugs, hooray!
I also have an unwelcome Lantana-I used to hate the aroma too, but I find that it doesn't bother me anymore. That plant still does. It dies back to the ground here in winter . I would have to use a stump killer to get rid of it because it is lodged in a spot surrounded by concrete on the hellstrip. My weirdness is sweeping up leaves from the neighbors curbs for my compost bin. I have to time it before the mow-blow dudes show up . They don't know those leaves are gold.
ReplyDeleteI collect (shhh! don't tell) some of the neighbor's leaves myself. Prime compost material. So, it's not weird.
DeleteI was thinking of your last week. How 'bout those Dodgers! :^) Some incredible nail-biter games. What a series it was.