~honeysuckle~

Late summer I always tell myself 'You really should get rid of that honeysuckle covering the back fence'.

Each spring I find myself wandering the back garden, and saying to myself 'I can't imagine a world without the fragrance of honeysuckle in the early morning'.

Comments

[Les]

Japanese Honeysuckle is one of those plants I enjoy best in other people's yards.

[Kim]

I had refrained from posting this because I didn't want it to seem like I was up on a soapbox... but since you addressed the invasive issue in the next post, I'll bite on this after all.

I have similar thoughts to yours, just on the other side of the coin. 11 months out of the year, I think, "Why would anyone up here want to plant that terribly invasive Japanese honeysuckle? Don't they see it growing wild in our parks and on the sides of the road?"

And then spring comes. And I walk by at least 4 houses that have them blooming--2 I can see, the other 2 I know from smell only, not sight--and I think, "Hmm. Can the honeysuckle really be so bad? It's already loose in the wild around here anyway, so what's the harm if I would plant just one more..."

I don't just sniff it. I gulp the fragrance, and let it wrap around me and waft through me as much as I possibly can. Divine.

[Pam]

Honeysuckle reminds me of my childhood. I don't think I remember an early summer morning without the fragrance of honeysuckle when I was growing up - and it makes me think, if only for a moment, that I'm 'free' for the summer, with days stretching ahead of me filled with few obligations. It's fragrance makes me want to be sunburned and barefoot. How can one eradicate THAT?

Overall, I'm torn on the invasives thing. I've taken alot of ecology - but my cynical side sees us (humans) as just another member of the ecosystem (which we are) and so perhaps our moving plants around (introducing invasives) is no different than a bird dropping seeds some distance from where he/she picked them up. 'We' just think we're smarter, that's all.

[Kim]

I can certainly see that point as well. (I will rarely argue with anything that is based on the idea of man's ego being rather out of whack.) And you're very right--that feeling is absolutely priceless. :)