A colourful spring display which appears each year, on a hillside by Wellington's south coast - pretty plants which are potential problems: Centranthus ruber or false valerian, a garden escapee of Mediterranean origin in white, pink, and crimson - it grows in all kinds of inauspicious places, such as stone walls or highly alkaline soils, and produces a great profusion of tiny seed; Lupinus arboreus, tree lupin from California, with its yellow spires - often planted to stabilise sand dunes, its seed pods pop explosively scattering seed widely; Senecio glastifolius, holly leaved senecio or pink ragwort with its pink and purplish daisies, from South Africa - toxic to stock, a great coloniser of disturbed soil, it highlights any such areas with its massed flowers. All great survivors. All with the potential to overwhelm vulnerable native plants. This great display is not just for our pleasure! But in this case they have not taken over, in fact the area they fill is dwindling, so I enjoy them while they last.
