Habitat and Region

Dear Gardeners All,

You will recall a previous musing or admonition from the Dodo on plants and how to live happily ever after with them.  Remember?  I have just discovered another resource for making a happy habitat in your yard:  PlantRight.  It is a website devoted to helping an innocent gardener avoid disaster at the nursery. 

Many years ago, I was employed to remove English Ivy.  It makes me think of this Beatles song:  A Day in the Life (although, to be sure, most things make me think of this song).  The bit about counting all the holes comes to mind.  I also think of Sisyphus.   I have also had unpleasant experiences of removing Scotch Broom, Trees of Heaven, and Bamboo.  So, when we first had a place to plant some things, I was shocked that nurseries would sell these plants, with nary a warning. I say, Goddamn the pusher man.

In the meantime, I will be outside, pulling and hacking out the last of one of my mistakes:  Stipa Tenuissima.  It was so beautiful, and the name so full of poetry:  Mexican Feather Grass.  Ought not the nursery I bought it from have mentioned the dangers of this plant in my climate and area? 





PS  If you cannot get enough data on what not to plant in California, wander around the website of the California Invasive Plant Council:  www.cal-ipc.org.