I bought a little bit of lantana for my yard. I have a friend
who says that her grandmother used to pay her and her brother to pick
it as a weed. Can't imagine why except maybe the stuff they pulled
smelled like last year's lantana. I bought non-smelly stuff this year.
Lantana is wildly colorful and I love wildly colorful anything. It
also laughs at my clay soil. The only other thing that lives where
lantana grows in my yard are the ants
But best of all Lantana has attracted the MOST beautiful
butterflies this road has ever seen. I haven't had time to find out
what kinds are out there but they come in waves. Some days are
blue/green, some days are orange, some days are black or yellow. Out
of four lantana plants today we lost track of butterfly counting after
20 some. I never imagined butterflies (and lantana) would bring such
happiness. My mother (who visited and was very upset about the ant
problem) got a big laugh at how many many butterflies are sitting on
those flowers in my front yard.
Thanks to everyone for all the great ideas on how to get my soil to
grow plants (can't say it often enough). My family is pigging out on
peppers and Matt's wild cherry tomatoes right now and we have 6
pumpkins off of one vine ready for all sorts of good pumpkin recipes.
[ An aside: my son was to fix three foods that Native Americans might
have fixed-- for a scout badge. We talked to a friend who is Creek and
made the best pumpkin stuffed with wild rice and beans and onions! We
also used a Cherokee dish handed down from my grgrgrandmother who lived
with me when I was a kid. He got to brag that not only did he cook
the food but that he grew part of it!]
Wish I could throw a big party for all you sweet folks! Thanks
again.
Laura McK
