Cup plants are very dear to me and play a pretty big role in my life as a gardener. At the last house I rented, there were cup plants surrounding the porch. One sunny summer day I stepped out and saw three different species of butterfly and at least two different bee species, including the endangered rusty patched bumblebee, all happily fluttering and buzzing around. It was so beautiful.
Within a week they were chopped down by whatever unqualified hack the landlord paid to do a bare minimum of yard work. Didn't even try to dig them out or anything, just left the hacked off stalks. My front yard, formerly lush and green with lovely yellow flowers and teeming with native insects, was now so much less alive. I think that's the day I decided I could never again live in a place where someone else did the gardening/landscaping.
