The Alanthus trees are blooming, which means the air smells like a catbox, or an old school Bowery bum. Growing in an empty lot, it was a metaphor for the family in A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.
It will grow anywhere.
One sprouted up in my garden between the fence and the netting we use to keep the cats from climbing out. I think it is part of a tree in the neighbor's yard. In fact there are about five of the trees surrounding the garden and I think they are part of one tree. I knew I had to keep it from spreading. I had a hard time because I really admire these trees. But finally I cut it back. It smelled like spice, some kind of vegetable one might find in an Indian restaurant.
2 comments:
"It can grow anywhere!" Hahaha I love it. Thats actually a very cool photo, the one with it growing out of the brick building. I always wanted to have a garden in a very high up place, maybe on top of a roof in the city. Now I'm just letting my thoughts and mouth wander.
-Oscar Valencia
Ha, These were brought over in the 19th century as food for silk worms. They grow fast and furious. They replaced native (?) mulberry for the silk worms because they grew so rapidly. The US silk industry was centered in Paterson, Passaic and Garfield NJ in Passaic and Bergen County. As a kid these were never called Alanthus - they were called "Paterson Palms". I grew up in Passaic, NJ home of Botany Woolen Mills and Forstmann Mills. Most of the mill buildings are gone now, but their legacy lives on in the Paterson Palm.
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