Posted 11:31 PM by Floyd

Affairs of state, to say nothing of bridge games, have required my presence elsewhere. Before I leave for my campaign against England -- which will begin with the siege and investiture of Baron Von Frankenstein's castle at Weissaria -- I will blog a little screed about native plants.

The Town of Woodside sends me notices about its semiweekly meetings. I was about to crumple the latest for kindling when I noticed that the last meeting's topic was "Removal of Eucalyptus and Other Non-Native Fire Safety Threatening Trees". Certainly eucalyptus trees are a fire danger and should be contained. But the phrasing led me to wonder, what if my house were burned down due to native fire safety threatening trees? Should I enjoy the experience?

For some reason native plants are a fad amongst the ecologically conscious. I have been told that California foresters are not allowed to trim poison oak from their watchtowers because it is a native plant!

Native plant mania is a microcosm of the left in 2002; even if it made any sense, it still wouldn't make any sense. I am not a native to Californian; neither are 99% of the other residents of this state. Nature is not about various species staying within the dotted line. Life is vigorous and attempts to expand into new niches.

If anyone tries to sell you on native plants, take a hard look. (A friend of mine was a Sierra club member, but was not very hard core about it. Another club member said in the middle of a conversation, "Don't you just hate non-native plants?!" My friend was nonplussed.) I live a few miles north of Yerba Buena Nursery. It is stocked with native plants. Now I like the few businesses and landmarks near Sky Londa, and the nursery is very attractively presented and has nice people working there. And I can see how plants which originated in California would be easy to grow and would save on your water bill. Even so, I regret to report that the native plants look like weeds and suck.