Report From PIA – September 13
Tonight, my husband and I had dinner at the Eclectic Café in Hyannis. We ate in the garden and listened to music by Billy Holiday, Frank Sinatra and Cole Porter. The meal was delicious, delightful and delovely.
At the end of the meal our waiter approached and said that the chef had recognized my name on the reservation list…was I, indeed, The Garden Lady? When I said yes, the waiter asked if it would be OK if the chef came out to ask me a gardening question. Of course it would be all right!
It turns out that the chef wants to put a grape arbor behind his house, and he’d like to transplant some wild grapes from his neighbors’ property and grow them on the arbor. “Why do you want the wild grapes,” I asked, “when you could grow a concord or other variety?”
“I grew up in the Cummiquid area,” he responded, “and I remember the smell of those grapes when I was walking home from school.”
So we talked about when and how to move those wild grapes.
Many hate wild grapes because they twine around trees, strangling them and shading their leaves. I have a friend who cuts them at ground level when she comes upon them as they grow along the roadside. Most people would rather plant vines that produce larger and sweeter fruit. But wild grapes called to this man. He remembers them with sweet fondness. He should have them in his yard.
As a garden writer I frequently write about the newest cultivars of plants, the latest introductions, and what’s hot in horticulture. But sometimes we need to remember that it doesn’t matter if a plant is in fashion, or if it’s new, rare and hard to grow.
Does a plant make your heart sing? Grow it, plant it, and smile.
I recently posted that I don't really care for Siberian Iris - they bloom for such a short time, and they need dividing every time you turn around. Poppies, however, call to me. They have a short season of bloom, but every morning that I see the rising sun shining on a newly opened flower, my spirits sour.
