As a volunteer at the Durango Public Library demonstration garden and docent for the Durango Botanical Society, I’m frequently at the gardens along the Animas River Trail. We do maintenance each Saturday morning and invariably must tolerate a sewage odor in the area. Can you trace the perpetrator so it can be weeded out? Visitors and gardeners would appreciate it. We’re holding our breath for your answer. – Nauseated
It must be the end of the growing season, as there has been a bumper crop of plant-based questions.
Not that Action Line minds issuing hoary horticultural exhortations.
The affront at the rear of the library is caused by the big ol’ sewer line running along the Animas River Trail.
The sewer has been there longer than the library or the trail. And it’s pretty much the only place for a sewer line.
You-know-what runs downhill, and the river is the lowest point here in River City.
Sewer lines also require vents, so olfactory offenses will be an occasional bother.
Until taxpayers cough up 80 gazillion dollars or more, re-engineering our sewer lines will never be a No. 1 or No. 2 priority.
So what can we do about the whiff of iffy effluvium?
Trees are the answer.
We’re talking those little pine tree air fresheners that hang from rearview mirrors.
The city, using its bulk purchasing power, could order several cases and volunteers could hang them all over the demonstration garden.
Since the air fresheners are green and look like a pine, no one would notice.
And if someone does notice, the Durango Botanical Society could simply say is an extension of the recently installed Dwarf Conifer Garden.
The more realistic approach would be planting more of the fragrant plants now thriving in the demonstration garden, including hummingbird mint, daphne and chocolate flower. (Yes, the yellow blossoms smell like chocolate!)
These could mask the occasional reminder that Durango has sanitary infrastructure.
If you want to know more about aromatic flowers and waterwise plants, the botanical society offers docent-led garden tours every Friday at 9:30 a.m. Group tours can be arranged for other times as well by calling Melanie Palmer at 769-3091.
As they say, you should take time to stop and smell the roses.
How ironic that the rose growing in the demonstration is a red leaf rose.
Its pink blossoms have no scent.
Guess we’ll just have to stop and smell the hummingbird mint.
Since we’re on a botany binge, let’s dig into the Mea Culpa Mailbag. Or should we call it the Mea Culpa Mulch Pile?
A recent column hacked away at Silver Lace Vine scrambling over the shrubs and trees along the river trail. It included a photo of a person examining its Dr. Seuss-like spread.
That prompted a note from our good friend Eva Montane, an awesome garden expert and president of Columbine Landscapes here in town.
“I read your Aug. 22 Action Line, and I would put big money on said vine along the river trail being the native clematis,” she writes.
Holy kudzu! Eva is right. The vine in the photo is definitely Western clematis, Clematis ligusticifolia.
Silver Lace Vine has tight bunches of flowers while the clematis has airy, silky blossoms.
In addition, Silver Lace Vine has rounded leaves while clematis typically has pointy leaves.
It was a case of Action Line not seeing the forest for the trees.
Email questions to actionline@durangoherald.com or mail them to Action Line, The Durango Herald, 1275 Main Ave., Durango, CO 81301. You can ask for anonymity if you heard it through the grape vine.
