Wednesday, August 04, 2010
Remember two years ago when I had that weird space plant? I named him Bob. You guys helped me figure out that he was a 7 ft. tall great mullein plant.
There are more. Bob has been very busy.
There are twelve. Well, not anymore. I had to take them down. But there were twelve. And it was impressive. Like our own little space jungle in the back yard where humans are hunted by alien bounty hunters. Over rocks. In the dry creekbed measuring 9ft by 4ft.
The great mullein was brought over from Europe in the seventeenth century. It’s leaves were boiled to make medicinal tea or smoked for, um, other reasons. It’s seeds are microscopic and can cause severe neurological disorders in guinea pigs. (Did you know I have two guinea pigs?)
The plant sprouts one year and then shoots up 6 or 7 feet the next. And no, I haven’t made tea or smoked the plants. One of my uncles took a couple of leaves to, um, try but I haven’t heard back from him on the, um, subject.
Most of my friends and family think I’m nuts for keeping them as pets, naming them and refusing to take them down. Well, I guess I did finally take them down – but that’s just nitpicking.
Oh well, I tell them. I can have a neat, well-manicured lawn or I can be interesting. (BTW this is the same philosophy I have for a clean house, Gold honor roll kids and a car that doesn’t smell like rotting french fries with a picant hint of dead body.)
You can’t have both.
The Assassin