Re: [gardeners] Wildflowers
George Shirley (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Sun, 19 Apr 1998 18:04:49
At 01:26 PM 4/19/98 +0000, you wrote:
>One day, early last week, we had the joy of driving down three
>seventy-mile long perennial beds. The State Highway
>Department courteously provided paving for the automobiles and
>named it "Interstate-10."
>About those sage. Maybe what I need to do is have my native-born
>Texan plant a few! Pat
>
On Easter Sunday Anne and I drove Texas highway 105 to Cleveland, Texas,
that secondary road is heavily planted with winecups, Indian paintbrush,
bluebonnets, DYC's and some purple flower we couldn't identify at 70 MPH.
Texas started the program during the LBJ administration as Pat said and
have saved a ton of money. Where they used to mow the highway rights-of-way
monthly now they only mow once or twice a year. Saved more than enough to
pay for planting more and more flowers along highways. Some highways even
have "test" strips where they are trying different flowers for durability,
self-seeding, and attractiveness. Louisiana just doesn't mow the medians
but once per year and lets the weeds go to flower. :-)
Enjoyed your post mightily Pat, makes me homesick.
George