Isotoma Floritis

Our neighbor has this large patch of Bluestar Creeper (Isotoma floritis), and the snails don't appear interested...



I'd like to use it to fill in the gaps between the new stepping stones we laid down. I went to the nursery and got a tiny flat of it, which I divided up into about eight little tufts...



The snails ate them one by one...



So I built metal cages for the surviving tufts...



The next morning, I was satisfied to see a shiny snail track dried on the cage above the tuft that they had been attacking before I put the cages on.

Of course, we can't keep the isotoma in cages forever. My theory is that the colony my neighbor has is mature, and doesn't taste good to the snails because it is old and tough. The sprouts I bought at the nursery were probably young and tender, forced up quickly for commercial purposes. Tasty. After being protected by the cages for a while, hopefully the snails will lose interest in the mangy old stuff. Hopefully.

Otherwise, our neighbor may have a slightly different species, and we will come begging for little snips of it.

Left grip is 41 pounds (38, 41, 40), right grip is 90 pounds (84, 85, 90), left leg balance is 6.89 seconds, and inhale volume went to an awesome 4900 mL, a level not seen since October, 1 2004!