Re: Was: OLEANDERS, now: xenohortphobia?
At 06:49 PM 11/30/00 +0200, Vavourakis wrote:
>Dear Glen and all,
>
>What is the point of ripping out beautifully acclimated Medit-plants from
>freeways and public places when they require so little care and maintenance?
>
>I'm a newish member, and I have just begun to digest the many convincing
>dialogues I've heard regarding adaptable plants and how we should embrace
>them for the sake of water conservation, etc. Now I am being asked to
>sympathize with evicting these successful foreign invaders?
>
>This is the strangest form of xenophobia I've ever heard of!
>
>Karen Vavourakis, Greece
Hi Karen -
I can understand both sides of this argument. Perhaps the most persuasive
point is that foreign invaders are causing big problems in places like
South Africa where the flora is so rare and precious that any amount of
invasion can threaten several species at once. In this region, the richest
botanical kingdom in the world, a cubic meter can contain hundreds of
species, some endemic to a hectare (or less) of land. It is very curious
that South Africa and Australia have such a problem with each other's
native plants. But then I saw lots of invaders from our area in Europe
recently, many so naturalized that they are now considered to be native by
many people. Europe is such an old country it is sometimes hard to find a
truly natural area that has not been impacted in some way by our
hand. Places like South Africa still do have some of these more-or-less
untouched areas, though they are also disappearing fast.
I don't know the specifics in other areas, but I do know that numerous
invaders in California do cause problems with regard to habitat loss and
physical problems (erosion, etc.). Not all exotics are problematic, but
vigilance is required in our area since we have so many unique
micro-climates - you never know when a garden plant may finally find a
niche and take off into the wild landscape. I would temper the attitude in
South Africa with dealing primarily with those species that are seen to be
a big problem. Oleanders locally never seem to self-seed or 'escape' - I
wonder if this is a problem in other places?
We tread a fine line, wishing to use climate appropriate plants but
concerned about their possible threat to the native landscape. We want
things that are easy to grow but are not comfortable enough to take over
wild lands. A friend once argued that my approach was totally wrong - that
we should only grow exotics that required complete support from us and
would not survive one moment on their own in our local conditions! There
was a part of his argument that I couldn't fight against, though I was able
point out how completely unsustainable horticulture has its own impact upon
that local environment which can also be devastating.
A complex issue.
Regards,
Sean O.
h o r t u l u s a p t u s - 'a garden suited to its purpose'
Sean A. O'Hara fax (707) 667-1173 sean.ohara@groupmail.com
710 Jean Street, Oakland, CA 94610-1459, U.S.A.
