It's agapanthus time again in our part of the world.

In every direction these vigorous plants hold up unstable clay banks and are an easy fill for large blank spaces. They provide a solid mass of lush green all year. And just now they are a mass of great blue or white displays everywhere you look. They make the heart leap with joy, I tell you.

Ah, yes, but in the north, agapanthus are not so popular with officialdom. They grow so fast and so rank that they smother most of our tiny indigenous plants in the margins of our native bush. Their seeds are spread by birds and grow anywhere at all. They haven't been damned as "noxious" yet but they are definitely on the Dept of Conservation's "not wanted" list. Please, DOC say, don't encourage them in our district.

Sad, isn't it, that something so lovely to look actually doesn't make a totally positive contribution to our community. Appearances don't count for everything, in flowers. I wonder if that's true also for congregations...?


PS: We have agapanthus on our bank but we will "head" the flowers as soon as they start to droop, to stop the birds getting at the seeds..