Well it appears that Big Canoe management is stuffing another new and ridiculous rule down our throats… a massive ‘hack job’ to the approved plant list. This week’s release of a POA Plant List Q&A reveals the restrictions property owners will be facing when they shop for plants after May 1. It is pretty shocking!
After defining a cultivar and a hybrid plant, they tell us we can’t have them. Why? Because the flowers would probably be too big!?!? They describe the flowers as looking like a bright yellow house in Big Canoe. What?
Reflect with me for a moment on Flowering plants around the oldest landscapes in Big Canoe. What about those bright-pink-baseball sized flowers on those ancient Kwanzan Cherries around the Chimneys patio in the village blooming as I pen this article. Those are now off the approved plant list, as well as all the other flowering cherries. Oh! They generously added back to the new approved plant list the one native cherry which most gardeners consider to be a weed because it comes up in every part of your landscape from the five million seed it produces each year. Why they aren’t calling it a native invasive I don’t know.
Reflect with me some more to a day in late May when you drove through the south gate and swooned when you glanced right and saw the Rhododendron hybrid Roseum Elegans draped over the stone retaining wall greeting you with all their beauty. Who would want to omit them from our approved plant list? The answer is Big Canoe’s Conservation Committee and Big Canoe’s Architectural and Environmental Control Committee. Why? They must be bored and want to get me started on a sure fire rant!
I could go on for pages on the 100’s of plants they omitted from the new approved list which Jill and the board seem to be denying in the answer to their Q&A question “How many plants were removed from the plant list?” They go on to say “The biggest change was not allowing the cultivars and hybrids……….actually minimal changes” This answer differs with Facebook posts and Smoke Signals articles’ remarks earlier this year.
So I asked some horticulture friends “Why the different answers?” The answer probably won’t shock you “They probably did not know what they were doing in their reorganization of the list.” The old list offered plants at the genus level indicating any plant species in that genus was acceptable.
So I asked the question “Name some of those for me.” The answer will probably be familiar to you “Rhododendron, Viburnum, Witchhazel, Camellia, Spirea, Dogwood, Crabapple, Cherries, there were more, but those represent 100’s of species, cultivars and hybrids that we will not be able to enjoy after May in a landscape installation.
From there my horticulturist went on a rant “The Viburnum genus alone listed in Dr. Michael A Dirr’s book Viburnums lists 70 species. From those species, breeders have developed 100’s of beautiful hybrids and cultivars.”
“Check his beautiful book out at your local library and drool over all the beautiful plants we will be denied!”
“Speaking of the Rhododendron genus (group), Dr. Dirr lists in his Manual of Woody Landscape Plants over 40 species and of course breeders do what they are best at, breeding them, making them even more beautiful, healthy and disease resistant. The manual has over 50 pages (in tiny type) describing hundreds of hybrids and cultivars of these basic 40 species in the Rhododendron group (genus).”
So what I am seeing here in the answer to the question “How many plants were removed from the plant list?” was an evasion of the reality of what they did with the omission of the plant offerings at this group (genus) level. The answer really is,”We omitted 100’s of species, then (to add to the omitted numbers) we are saying we don’t want any of those improved and gaudy cultivars and hybrids utilized here in our lovely settings of Big Canoe so we really omitted 1000’s. But most of it is related to the cultivar and hybrid omissions. Can you say “Smoke and Mirrors at its best!” I knew Jill was sharp, but maybe Vaudeville might be her best career track. This is definitely magic talking!
It is also interesting that these committees redefined ‘What is a native plant? It seems that if it doesn’t grow in “these parts of Georgia” it is not native. Judy Kaufman’s article in Smoke Signals explained the difference in naturalized and indigenous. Indigenous means inherent and original to an area and naturalized means it is thoroughly naturalized but is from a different area. That was one of those discussions that makes me go “Hmmmmmm”
So I asked my horticulture friend about this definition on previous plant list revisions. It seems that earlier revisions considered anything native that was native to the southeast and surrounding states and included any plant in that group on the approved plant list if it would tolerate our growing conditions in Big Canoe.
Somewhat puzzled by this restriction in definition I asked “So did they only include natives that were indigenous to this area.” The answer is probably not going to surprise my dear readers “Well no, they took some off and they left some on and called them native.” More vaudeville folks! “Why would they want to do that? I asked. “It could have been left on the new list and not called a native by the new definition.”
This response may surprise you. “Probably someone just didn’t like the particular plant. They would rather include a foreign plant than a plant like the Magnolia grandiflora (which has naturalized outside our gates) because it represents the old south..Magnolias and Mint Julips.” Oh my…. we are having a re-enactment of the civil war inside the gates of Big Canoe over the plant list. Forget that according to history, Magnolia was on Lake Sconti before Big Canoe was here. New comers don’t like it.
But wait, the real issue is that we have two Big Canoe committees that removed southeastern natives from the list and left plants from all over the world and added plants not native to this area, not even this country. Have they just lost contact with the reality of what they are saying here? Worse yet, remember that new definition of native? We did not stick with that on a number of coastal plains natives from south of Big Canoe. Go figure!
I thought that I heard somewhere that we were a Wildlife Sanctuary with an emphasis on bird sanctuary. All you birders out there, please answer this question “Which plant, fruit, seed do you think insects and thus birds will be more familiar with a Magnolia from down the road or a Spruce from Norway, or Asia? I think the birders would say the Magnolia.
Oh and there is a new addition to the clean forest rule from last year’s charade with the tree rule, according to this Q&A you must search your property for Kudzu, Bamboo, Privet, Japanese Honeysuckle and Elaeagnus seedlings then they must be removed! If your neighbor has an Elaeagnus that he installed when it was on the plant list years ago, turn him in. Otherwise, you are likely to get a seedling and AECC will be sending you a letter!
Part of the answer to the final question in this Q&A indicates these author’s naivety “No one could have imagined 10 years ago that the inbreeding and genetically enhanced plants would become so popular.” Inbreeding (hybridizing) plants has been going on since William Bartram explored these forests for plants to send back to Europe for just that reason. They would breed our natives with theirs and make better plants! Ten years ago……?!?! it has been popular for centuries. Where have these committee members been? Or maybe this is more Vaudeville from Jill.
Just one more point from my horticulture friend will possibly make you cry. “There is one more highlight in this Q&A! For everyone who breathed a sigh of relief when they noticed that the committee apparently wore out their erasures on the old list’s trees and shrubs and could not get to the supporting plants, vines, perennials and ground covers. No friends and neighbors. The Q&A indicates they just want natives there and don’t forget the new definition of native. They kindly give you a web site for reference. Good bye Hellebores, so long Autumn Fern, no more deer resistant Ajuga…..do your readers get the picture here? Go to the nurseries today and get it in the ground before May 1!” was the advice.
So folks, here is your future if you want to add to your landscape. Start hunting small specialty nurseries. You can’t go to your favorite nursery and buy the breeder’s latest best gorgeous creation, it will be a hybrid or cultivar, they are boycotted! I understand the local nurserymen are shaking their heads at this nonsense!
So do we have a budget for digging up and replacing all these terribly invasive plants that our consultant, Walter Bland, says are threats do our natural forest? How much will it cost? They have already ripped out plants in the village and the north gate. I understand that 8 invasive non-native plants were removed from the list because they are listed on Georgia’s list as potential threats. From Smoke Signals articles, I understand these some of these same plants were put in last year’s design for the new Fire Station. Did we not have a clue where we might be going with this since the minutes from the Conservation Committee indicates this all started over a year ago. Oh I forgot, they were working in secrecy in a closet somewhere.
Then there are the ones at the Club House and the Round About. Oh my, but money is no problem at Big Canoe. We have an open checkbook from the property owners.
Oh, I just want to poll my readers regarding one more comment in this Q&A, “This project was about both invasive plants and making sure we continue to have predominantly native plants to maintain the natural look of Big Canoe.” First, Committee Members “How many straight species native plants (other than your trees) do you have in your landscape.” Perhaps you should volunteer your landscapes for this summer’s Wildflower Bunch ‘Garden In The Woods Tour’ as I am told that three of the four volunteers that had offered to open their gardens have withdrawn their offers because they do not want to tell new property owners that they can’t have similar plant arrangements. Now dear readers, how many do you have? Better get busy, rumor has it that this is just the first round on this charade.
The bottom line on all of this is that the eight plants listed on the Georgia list could be a potential problem, but the rest of this slash and burn routine on the plant list is not necessary and based purely on someone’s preference and bias. I understand that the POA Board can’t believe they created this monster issue. I love big fat gaudy flowers especially on Rhododendron and Viburnum! And they look great on the edge of our Big Canoe forests!
I wish to close with two points, from a separate train of thought – that of a governance and financials control perspective….
- There is a Conflict Of Interest at work here in that the consulting architect of this plan, Walter Bland, is being PAID substantial monies (rumour is $50 – $60,000 although they refuse to openly disclose the exact number, which is NOT transparency at work) to remove the Invasive Plants from the Common Areas and from the Approved Plant List. I am NOT attacking Mr Bland’s character, and I believe that he truly believes in his perspective. My concern is that monetary incentive can sometimes be a powerful, yet subtle and subliminal, influence on how one looks at things. He makes a living doing this, and therefore he has a bias. It is a legitimate point. A better approach would have been to separate the Research Recommendations from the Removal Contract. And once again, it must be pointed out that we have TONS OF TALENT right here in Big Canoe in the Garden Club, Wildflower Bunch, Master Gardners, etc…. but we are once again going to secretive high-cost, outside consulting contracts.
- This is an unnecessary, and extremely divisive issue that is another contributor to substantial and growing unrest within the community. The Board and new GM Jill “Black Spot” Philmon seem to have needlessly and intentionally picked this fight with the property owners. Things have worked fine here for DECADES. They have suddenly removed entire Plant Genuses that have been being placed in Landscapes here for DECADES. Please…. it is too late to put this horse back in the barn. There is a tiny, small, less than a dozen plants on the list in question that may legitimately fall into a category of legitimate concern as invasives. Please STOP immediately the divisive and intrusive over-reaching into our lives here in Big Canoe!
I hope you enjoyed the article. If this issue is of concern to you, you may wish to read “BIG CANOE FACEBOOK FEEDBACK: One Resident’s Musings on the Plant List” recently published on the subject, or check out this month’s April 2019 Smoke Signal Column by Cynthia Hendry titled “Loving rhododendrons” (see Page 2). Also, in 2015 Cynthia also wrote an amazing pictorial article titled “The perfect rhododendron” and it shows some beautiful plants here in the community – that will now be banned simply because they are cultivars and hybrids. And here is a link to a 2018 Article about the Wildflower Bunch Plant Sale – shows some beautiful plants which will now be banned – can you name them?
HOWEVER, lastly, and perhaps most damning, is conservation committee member Judy Kaufmann‘s 2014 article, “A bigger, warmer welcome“, in which she discusses how our “native and noninvasive” Rhododendron Roseum by the Main Gate would enhance the “development and evolution of our warm welcome to both visitors and residents.” Five (5) years later she is part of the secretive core team leading the charge to eliminate them in the new Restrictive Plant List. Doesn’t make sense, and I am with the majority of the Property Owners on this one! The beauty and diversity of our Rhododendrons, Daffodils (and other Plant Species) is what has evolved to make Big Canoe the beautiful and natural community that it is today! Can’t we just focus on the half-dozen species that actually are invasive?
Good luck to everyone fighting the good fight to protect our Community from unwanted and unneeded change! Let’s Keep Big Canoe Wild, Natural, Evolving and Beautiful – not phony and limited like some Country Club Estate!
Peace,
– david / publisher
Focus On Big Canoe, GA
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