Garden Reports and Rejoicing – May 9
On Monday I helped some people in the perennial section of the garden center. I’d say they were yin-and-yang-customers…on the one hand they were excited about planting and ready to put something in the ground. I loved their enthusiasm and desire. On the other hand, they were grabbing anything in bloom without much thought or willingness to work with what’s possible.
They wanted only plants with flowers on them, and expressed the desire to have plants that would bloom all though the summer. I told them that the plants that are in bloom before mid-June are only flowering early in the season. I couldn’t think of a single shrub or perennial that flowers in April, May or early June that continues to bloom into July and August.
These customers weren’t content with my answer. “How about this one?” they’d say, picking up another perennial in full flower, hoping that my answer would be different. I tried to turn their attention to the fact that they shouldn’t be looking at their landscape as they would a room in their house…indoors we can decorate and have everything remain in place. Our gardens, however, are closer to a kaleidoscope where the colors and shapes are constantly changing and largely outside of our control.
With these people I failed in my mission. I couldn’t get them to move beyond their desire to plant an instantly flower-filled yard that would remain unchanged in the future. They did not like what I was saying, and wouldn’t be moved into reality.
Would it have been better, do you think, to just lie to them and say that yes, that Aubrieta and Aurinia would indeed flower all summer? I have to believe that ultimately this would lead to their disillusionment with gardening when they ultimately experienced reality.
I was left wondering how I might bring their unacquainted eagerness closer to my informed passion for plants. How to best honor and cultivate their willingness while allowing that they need time and space to grow into the awareness about plants?