US veteran faces court threat over flowers in garden

AN 80-YEAR-OLD military veteran in Kansas who planted wildflowers in his garden to attract bees before being ordered to mow them down by the city council has united gardeners around the world in anger.

Dennis Moriarty planted milkweed and echinacea to encourage more bees, butterflies and other pollinators to the area. Mr Moriarty was given a warning for violating a city code that prohibits the overgrowth of “rank weeds and noxious plants” and told he could face a court appearance.

Mr Moriarty argues the native flowers are not weeds. “I was doing it for my neighbourhood,” he told the local public radio station. He has received support from as far as the UK and Australia.