There's been some garden activism going on lately, with picket lines and protests on Facebook. I never knew because I'm on a Facebook break, but people have got together to form groups against certain plants, like the group called S.T.A.M.P which stands for Society Totally Against Moth Plant.
This anti-moth plant group has been making the rounds of Garden Clubs lately, to spread the message, in an attempt to eradicate the threat of tiny moth plants springing up all over our gardens and smothering us to death, with their choko - like fruits which burst open like dandelion clocks or swan plant feathers, raining destruction on anywhere they can get a foothold - like the back of my neighbours' garage. Which is right next to our garden, and has been climbing up and on the side and over the roof, to become a huge green cloak of potential seed bombs.
So I gave Graham, one of the volunteers and speakers, a call, and he came to the rescue to help rid New Gardenland of this evil threat. He dropped by on Saturday in his overall and long gloves PPE - the moth plant exudes a sticky white sap that doesn't come off and can give you a rash, a hessian sack, a poison gel and a long fruit pruner to remove the moth plant fruit bombs.
He cut the vine off at its root, and then spread some sticky poison gel on it - I'm sorry I can't remember the name, but I trust that it's not just super glue (which by the way, does not work) and then pulled off a sackful of moth plant fruit bombs off the garage roof. He said they just will get smothered in landfill. Well I hope so, but then I wondered if all the fruits going to landfill will explode and the moth plants will sprout and then cover the landfill so it will become a moth plant dump island...
However I can't bear thinking about that one. Have we made the problem worse? I thought they would be incinerated in a holocaust to destroy them but no it seems they are just getting a christian burial instead. If I recall the transfer station sends all its landfill north outside of Auckland to Dome Valley or south to some no mans land between South Auckland and Hamilton. I'm sorry Huntly.
In addition to moth plant, they may be getting all our - ginger, agapanthus, wandering jew, phoenix palms, wild asparagus, morning glory, jasmine, wattle, loquats, privet, taiwanese cherry, woolly nightshade, arum lilies, crocosmia, pampas grass, mexican daisies, oxalis and bear breeches.
It's enough to establish a garden just full of those plants. It will be easy to establish, just plant and go.
In return I'm proposing a swap for these plants - tiger lilies, oriental lilies, daffodils, tulips, blue bells, freesias, watsonia, babiana, gladioli, kumara, spanish shawl, dichondra, donkey's tails, woolly thyme, scented geranium, and pink manuka.
Anyone with these plants? Please send them to me. We may be descending on Rogers Garden Centre with a wheelbarrow very soon.
