Monday, 26 August 2013

Weeds & Wild Bush on Barbados


Like everywhere else in the world, Barbados has it’s fair share of weeds and wild bushes, and I think that they have their own beauty, so I wanted to highlight some of them here. Maybe I’ll do some more at a later date too.




I love the little red thistle-shaped flower of one of those shown here. As a youngster when I kept pet rabbits and guinea pigs, I used to pics these for them - one of their favourite foods. No idea what it’s called though.

The one with the lovely yellow flowers is what I know as Wild Gorse. The flowers are very delicate, but advance with care as there are long thorns hidden amongst the leaves.




The plant with the balls of long thin black seeds are, for me, the real annoyance. If you or your pet brushes past one of these, the animal’s fur and your socks or pants leg will be covered in these seeds. The tips are hooked and they really stick on. They don’t brush or wash off. You just have to painstakingly pick each one off, and if you try to brush or comb them out of your pet’s fur, the animal will be screeching with all the pulling of their fur. Much better to pick them off one by one.




The grasses in the background have razor sharp edges that will give you a nasty cut if you brush past them. They do, however, make great animal feed for horses, cows, sheep and rabbits.

The back of my home looks out on to bushy land as far as you can see - the nearest houses, though not far away, are hidden by trees, the lay of the land and bush. And I like my view - it’s very peaceful and is a hive of activity with birds, insects, lizards, bats,  mongooses and monkeys going about their daily business. It definitely works for me. I don’t look forward to the day when it is developed into housing, as I’m pretty sure that day is coming.



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