Wednesday, August 21, 2019

Wednesday Vignette, the latest in security systems

My brother, who lives in Phoenix, sent me this photo of the latest and greatest in sustainable security systems there. Ain't nobody who wants to mess with those spines and glochids.

His photo reminded me of a building I photographed in Filmore, CA. I wasn’t paying any attention to the people in the building, on the other side of the windows, until one of them came out to find out what I was up to. I assured him I was harmless and only interested in the agaves, he seemed to relax. He told me that he loved them because they meant he didn't have to purchase a security system or put bars on the windows. Good point! Who’s crazy enough to crawl over a wall of agaves?


Plants earning their keep...

Weather Diary, Aug 20: Hi 86, Low 58/ Precip 0

Wednesday Vignettes are hosted by Anna at Flutter & Hum. All material © 2009-2019 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

17 comments:

  1. Not that I would dare crawl over the agave, but they aren't as thorny as some, and with a little distance they seem soft and delicate, wavy-like.

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    1. Looks can be deceiving, very deceiving...

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  2. eBest security system I've ever had was yuccas planted beneath all the ground level windows.

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    1. The ones I planted in our hellstrip certainly have done their job when it comes to kids who want to destroy a few plants for fun.

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  3. Those Agaves are crazy! They almost look to me like they are attacking the house and trying to get in. I think both cactus and Agaves would make a great theft deterrent. What if Agaves could move and could actually whip those scary arms around?

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    1. Oh! Like the trees in the Wizard of Oz, that would be fun.

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  4. Maybe it was this type of Agave that inspired 'Little Shop of Horrors.' ;)

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    1. A movie that I've never seen...

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    2. I saw the play in my 20s... it might be worth a look, it kind of goes with the Danger Garden theme. ;)

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  5. Bougainvillea is often used around boundaries and windows here for the same reason. The thorns of large specimens function like small daggers. Re glochids on opuntia, I often point out the plants to children on botanic garden tours to signify the need to respect plants in the desert garden, which inevitably leads one or more of the "little darlings" to begin touching them to test out their protection system. If I wasn't wary to having angry parents call the garden to complain, I'd let them go ahead and hug the teddy bear cholla.

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  6. Well, that is for damn sure! Not me... yikes! I really like the idea though...

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  7. We have some scratchy evergreens near the foundation but you can also hide among them!

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  8. Good thought! Something to think about when planning foundation plantings and security systems. They're beautiful, too.

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    1. Just think if the mailman dropped something important in there...

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