I’m constantly accused of not respecting boundaries, of letting plants take over spaces which some
people feel should properly remain under the control of humans and not the plant kingdom. That
a sight which gladdens my heart, a pathway seeded with Spanish poppies, should be considered by
others a weedy, unkempt nuisance takes me by surprise — every year (ha!)
Papaver rupifragum lighting up the pathway at dusk:
In spring I always welcome the Last Days of Pompeii look, that teetering on the edge between control and
disorder, cultivation and neglect, which to my eye infuses a timelessness that’s otherwise not always easy
to attain. By early summer, I’m wondering where I left my machete.
Agave ‘Mr. Ripple’ broods over this eternal conundrum.
(Photos by MB Maher.)