Oh, I'm still learning things every day, Ken! Dad is outside in the garage doing his woodturning and he said he had a confirmed sighting of a Giant Swallowtail! Not that it hung around for me, of course. My Rue plants are just little babies but I checked them for eggs, anyway. No luck so far. But it's good to know the Swallowtails are starting to emerge.
The Florida Native Plant Society posted an interesting article yesterday. It's about how scientists using herbicides have been successful in getting rid of the terribly invasive Cogon Grass after three years of treatment and follow up.
http://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/com...
It's definitely a dilemma and one that I'm struggling with as I try to decide how to rid myself of those Southern Sword Ferns (also invasive). Dad pulled what he could out of the trees and ground but didn't pull the ones embedded around my bromeliad. I also had to get on him a bit about not disposing of them properly. He left some laying on the ground because he ran out of trash cans, he says. The yard waste guys come by today so he should be able to remedy that problem. You really have to dispose of invasives carefully. Back when I used to compost, I wouldn't even add them to the compost pile. Not taking any chances! I hate to use chemicals, but I understand needing to use them sparingly. And if we could reclaim acres of land from Cogon Grass and restore natives on it, is it worth it? I'm no scientist and I don't know how much herbicide was needed and what the short or long term effects of its use on the land would be. But I think if it allows us to reclaim the land for natives in the long term, maybe it's the best solution we have for now?
