To the eye of the less experienced gardener, a Cleome plant could be mistaken for a marijuana plant. So after spotting a Cleome plant growing in a neighbor's yard, one person decided to take it upon themselves to alert the police.
Fortunately, the police quickly understood the confusion, and the situation was defused without issue. Later, the daughter of the Cleome grower posted about the whole thing on Reddit.
"Nosy neighbor called the cops on my mom because of her Cleome plant," she reported with amusement, attaching a photo of her mother looking relaxed in her gardening overalls. "This was her talking to the cops."
Commenters were delighted at the sight. "Beer can in one hand, watering can in the other. My kind of lady," one person said.
Another agreed: "I aspire to be her when I grow up!"
Fellow gardeners understood the appeal of growing Cleome — even if it can occasionally attract adverse attention.
"I grow cleome every year and I love it," one person said. "The flowers, the aroma and how it attracts the honey bees."
"Me too. Bees and hummingbirds all day and moths all night," another enthused. "I get more compliments on them than any other flower in the yard."
Making the yard a friendly place for pollinators also offers benefits beyond beauty. Pollinators — bees, insects, birds, and bats — are responsible for the growth of 35% of the world's food crops, per the USDA. They also help 75% of the world's flowering plants to survive.
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🔘 Mowing the lawn 🏡
🔘 Controlling weeds 🌿
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These native plants are also significantly easier for homeowners to grow. Considering how well-adapted they are to their environments, native plants utilize less water and require less maintenance than grass.
Yet despite these multifold benefits, some people still feel strongly opposed to the appearance of the thriving, rewilded lawns of their neighbors.
One commenter shared, "I have a neighbor (police won't tell me who) that calls the police on me when they think I'm not mowing my lawn often enough. They ask for a wellness check because they 'haven't seen me for a while and my lawn is overgrown.'"
Fortunately, once people learn the benefits of native lawns, many change their minds. In fact, the National Wildlife Federation reported that as of 2021, the percentage of home gardeners planning to transform a portion of their lawn to native plants had more than doubled in two years.
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