…is flowers.
They look lovely when on the trees and even look quite pretty when the dropping petals first land on the footpath, but…
They stick like glue to the footpath making them almost impossible to sweep away unless…
Someone walks over them, where they stick like glue to the soles of shoes or to Frankie the cat’s fur, again making them almost impossible to remove, unless…
The aforementioned shoes or cat come in contact with the carpeting in the car or the house entry points where those damned petals stick like glue to said carpet and become impossible to remove even with the vacuum cleaner, unless…
I pick up each decaying petal one by one where they stick to my fingers and I find them impossible to remove, unless…
Please let me discover another unless
HELP!
Another Spectrum 
4 Nov, 2022 at 7:38 pm
Unless you change your perspective entirely to value the beauty far more than the ‘mess’ at which point you don’t think about dead petals and don’t have to worry about any ‘unless’.
4 Nov, 2022 at 9:07 pm
Did you notice I tagged the post “Humour”? We spend a considerable portion of our disposable income planting out our property in shrubs, trees, annuals and perennials to encourage wildlife. The only lawn we have is a small amount underneath the the clothesline at the rear of the property. The entire front, sides and most of the back is in garden. I think we value nature and its beauty far more than the typical suburbanite.
The path leading up to the house is steep. The beginning and end of the path are separated by about a metre horizontally and four metres vertically. At this time of the year it can accumulate an ankle deep layer of decaying flowers in a matter of a day or two. It becomes a dangerous sticky slippery mess very quickly. The wife and I are in our seventies, and the last thing we need is to slip and suffer a fractured limb or hip. At this time of the year, the wife will not traverse the path unless I’m there to support her, and I can only do that when my chronic migraines don’t affect my balance. Those migraines also limit the opportunities I have to keep the path reasonably clear.
The obvious solution would be to remove all flowering plants from the vicinity of the path, but we appreciate the flowers and the wildlife they attract. Hence the attempt at a humorous “lament”.
4 Nov, 2022 at 9:32 pm
Dear Jane and Barry,
And unless you have been wise or adamant about not growing flowering trees and shrubs too close to footpaths….. and unless you have been regularly visiting SoundEagle’s main blog and four horticultural websites to pick up clues and tips plus wisdom and sagacity in the first place.
May you have a lovely weekend and happy November!
Yours sincerely,
SoundEagle
4 Nov, 2022 at 9:59 pm
There’s something pleasant about walking beneath trees heavily laden in flowers, especially if they are beautifully scented 🙂
Having to clear fallen petals in spring and fallen leaves in autumn is neither here nor there in the greater scheme of things. And if I get a little pleasure by pretending to complain about it (did I say it was an attempt at humour?), why not 🙂
I’ll continue to plant where I feel nature is instructing me rather than attempt to tame and regulate nature. Pathways should fit to nature, not impose on it. If that makes my life a little more complicated, so be it 🙂
5 Nov, 2022 at 6:11 am
Well, Barry, unless you walk barefoot. Or you stay indoors.
5 Nov, 2022 at 9:18 am
Those darned petals stick to feet just as well as to shoes. Mind you the sensation of walking through freshly fallen flowers barefoot is divine. On the other hand, as they decay so does the desirability of walking through them.
5 Nov, 2022 at 11:02 am
I agree. Decayed leaves are nor fun to walk on