Report From PIA – June 4
I’m planting like crazy this year: perennials, shrubs, groundcovers and annuals. Yummy, healthy plants go into the soil that I’ve loosened and amended, and I water them in. I place them in the ground with great hope and optimism… yet I know that some of them will die.
Even if a plant doesn’t out and out croak, it might be weak and spindly, or splay open in an ugly display of stems on dirt. Sometimes we can figure out what went wrong, but frequently the source of the problem remains a mystery. I don’t know about you, but I have an extensive list of plant names filed in the category, “Dead.”
It’s an interesting experience to cultivate things you know might not grow. I’ve had long experience with this as an artist and writer. If I had the money I have spent on the postage used to mail out proposals that haven’t gone anywhere, I’d have a small retirement fund.
Recently I had an encounter with a person who two weeks ago I would have sworn could have become a friend. She and I are much alike, with similar passions and abilities. In a matter of one week, things have turned around and I am suddenly unable to be myself around her. This is a relationship that may not develop further.
Sometimes the source of the problem remains a mystery. Not everything grows, but if we plant as much as possible, a good deal will thrive.
Although not everything thrives, our hearts are lifted when things do grow well. I love this combination of the Colette climbing rose and the Belgica honeysuckle. (Lonicera periclymenum 'Belgica'). Thankfully, these have both done well.
