Pandemic Projects - Illegal Gardening

Everyone loves scilla the time of year, but the minute you say anything about it on social media, someone posts within a few minutes that it is invasive and non-native and is the worst thing since buckthorn.

Plus, the warnings about jumping worms are running hot and heavy on the neighborhood FB boards, threatening to overtake the privatization of trash hauling as Saint Paul's #2 problem. Those that are (rightfully) concerned about them are worried at how they spread and wash down into storm sewers, how their eggs are tiny and hard to see, and what they do to the soil (basically it becomes the consistency of coffee grounds and stripped of many nutrients). Their argument is that you should not plant share, should only buy from "approved" nurseries, and should be very careful about cleaning tools and not tracking dirt. Those that think that the concern is a little overhyped counter that they have been here since 2006 and are in many other places, that they are already here and that there is no known eradication technique, that the many scientific sources are not all that worried, and that worries about them could put many small nurseries (like the growers at the Farmer's Market and smaller places like Highland Nursery) out of business, plus not allowing people the joys of sharing plants. Honestly, in my mind, both groups are right.

So I basically broke all kinds of rules today by going and digging up a bunch of scilla from someone's house and planting it in the front yard at Summit.

But I really love the way it looks, especially over there in the not-so-grassy soil under the magnolias, and it really looks lovely against the house. The person I got it from did not report jumping worms and I saw no signs of them, and I soaked the roots before I planted (though I did not scrub as well as I have done with other things I've planted this year.) So I'm going with the theory that it's ok.

After all, it can't be any worse than breaking off the branches of the beautiful trees, which my neighbors keep doing with abandon (looks like they just broke another budded one off recently, so I'm trying to force it in a bucket of water).

Gosh, there's so much yard work that needs to be done over there!