tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20534205.post7787409862791789588..comments2023-11-05T03:28:03.136-08:00Comments on HIGH COUNTRY GARDENER: OLD GEEZER'S REPORThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16267298087469464420noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20534205.post-49866662906040299862011-07-21T16:35:20.166-07:002011-07-21T16:35:20.166-07:00Having shared my story with Dana I felt compelled ...Having shared my story with Dana I felt compelled to answer Jan who is a longtime friend. I have walked the neighborhood many times picking up the garbage that people dump in Switzer Canyon and I have worked in the garden almost since the plant was planted 8 years ago. There are no pampas grasses ready to take up residence. The plant was apparently sterile. This is Flagstaff not Southern California. The plant was admired by many and watched because of the frequently express concerns. There are many more plants that people could spend their time removing that have proved to be invasive here. Have them come to Switzer Canyon and remove all the dalmation toadflax, cheat grass, cheeseweed, ragweed and diffuse knapweed that fill the canyon. We are out there doing our part every week but can't keep up with it.<br /><br />I don't think anyone has the right to come on private property and remove plant material including those listed above, unless they ask the owner or explain the need to remove it to them. I am still offended.Loni Shapirohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16202101139448646271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20534205.post-43551003062085606682011-07-11T19:09:56.577-07:002011-07-11T19:09:56.577-07:00Hi, Dana, add me to your list of suspects, but I...Hi, Dana, add me to your list of suspects, but I must respond. One has only to go for a walk in one of a thousand scenic places in California to see the impacts of pampas grass (Cortaderia selloana). I have been in parts of Big Sur where the only things growing over hundreds of acres are are pampas grass and scotch broom, another lovely garden plant that got away, replacing the once endless fragrant coastal sage scrub typical of the region. I am not sure which hardy relative of the pampas grass I know was removed from Olivia White Hospice Garden, but I am sure that like a cat calmly watching a bird, it was just biding its time before springing into action sending its seed into heretofore semi-pristine ponderosa pine country. It is likely that if one were to take a walk around a one mile radius of Olivia White Hospice, baby pampas-like grasses have already taken up residence in disturbed areas like the YMCA parking lot area, the development (that has temporarily stopped developing) down the hill a bit and on the other side of Switzer Canyon Road, and other places unknown to this author who only knows the area on foot at Olivia White Hospice Garden.<br /><br />I am not a plant xenophobe, but I do love our native plant communities. Only coming from a place like Southern California where so many of them are totally gone forever can I anticipate the future impacts of some of the supposedly innocent ornamentals sold when there are many useful and beautiful non-native plants to chose from that can give us joy and ornament without harming our natural surroundings.<br /><br /><br />xxoo JanJan Buscohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10619263298156873446noreply@blogger.com