Mint begone!

Today Matt and I spent about 4 and a half hours in the garden. We got a lot done, and we were ably assisted by Arum who came by to help and brought sodas. Great thinking!

We started out by  making a space on the cactus wall for a lovely big Agave salmiana ssp. crassispina that John donated. Out came a boring old Agave americana (actually quite a beautiful 10 gallon specimen, of which I have three: anyone want to buy a matched set?) and we rearranged the fuzzy columnar cactus, Dasylirion wheeleri, and oddly unhappy-looking clump of iceplant (Lampranthus) at the base. Now the lovely Aloe ferox is not crowded, and the Agave salmiana ssp. crassispina can shine. See before and after pics, left.

After that I went to see what Arun was up to. I'd told her that the pineapple mint in the garden was behaving just exactly the way mint behaves, to my disbelief. In other words, taking over the entire darn country. I asked her if she'd mind pulling some out, and when I checked in she had obliterated half of it!

I can't tell you how pleased I was. I was giddy! We finished the job in no time and had several massive minty piles to dispose of. Then we planted three Pacific Coast Iris (Iris douglasiana) to fill the gaps (still room for some more plants there. Anything yellow will work.)

Now, that mint will be back, mark my words. It's a rabid little plant that will no doubt be one of the ones that could survive a nuclear winter. Imagine the world: a giant minty-fresh ball of cockroaches. Ugh. So if you're in the garden and you see it reviving itself, feel free to rip it out! Pic shows Arun - Mintmaster General!