7 thoughts on “Cactus Flower”

  1. “Queen of the night”It is lovely but unfortunately it is a Category 1 invader and very invasive . Please remove it ( burn or poison, dont put it in the garbage bin !)

  2. That’s the trouble with alien invaders – they were originally planted because they usually have such pretty flowers…. Or have a beuatiful shape:-

    During the holidays we had an enormous Syringa tree cut down. The tree guy is a horticulturist, so I asked him what the beautiful tree in our back yard is; it is giagnormous and I rated it a 10 out of 10 when we moved in July last year. When he told me it is a Camphor tree, my rating dropped to around 6 out of 10. I was puzzled, as there are other Camphor trees growing in the same area, and next door (see how they spread so easily?) but they are younger trees and the leaves look different, a lighter colour, so I could identify them. However, we will not remove the tree (it would cost too much anyway), and it is host to Stag Horn ferns, and gives some shade to my kitchen which gets afternoon sunlight in summer, so without it I would not be able to cook the evening dinner without fainting from the heat.

  3. Hi Julia, I am not sure
    where you live but the Camphor tree is a Cat.1 invader in only Northern province, KZN and Mpumalanga

  4. I live in Northdene, between Pinetown and Escombe in Durban.

    I have become somewhat fanatical when it comes to alien vs indigenous, but the tree guy said not to be too paranoid, just to keep removing new seedlings.

    I was going to remove a frangipani growing in the front yard, but it provides welcome shade. We will keep it trimmed though.

    We also only plant indigenous now, so no new alien plants get put in our garden.

Leave a Reply