"Glenn" wrote in message
ups.com...
The Paulownia tree project was started in my home county. I think it
was mostly a scam, the people that sold the young seedlings to farmers
charged big prices, and promised big returns. The mature trees were to
be sold to pulp and paper companies, but the farmers say they are not
able to find a market for the trees. I am only telling you what
neighbors have told me. When the trees are harvested you do not have
to replant them they will regrow from the existing roots of the cut
tree. Sounds to good to be true, right? The wood is cream colored and
has a hole in the center of the tree about the size of a fifty cent
piece. One of the buyers is now a judge in the superior court, big
headache for the sellers.
Nashville, GA


Of course, we have poplar here, so that perpetual harvest is well looked
after.

I fell prey to one of the back-to-the-land fads a number of years ago,
receiving and planting some Jerusalem Artichokes in one part of my garden.
When you speak of weeds, you're speaking of this. Tasty tubers, but any
neglected piece carried elsewhere by the plow will sprout. I swear any
piece of stem will, too.

I was in my third spring of eradication effort when I had a visit by the JW
ladies. Fortunately I was not cursing at the time. I filled them each a
large bag of overwintered root, extolling the beauty of the flower as well
as the taste they had experienced.

They never came back....