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| Robert Browning |
Robert Browning - Dramatis Personae: "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp, Or what's a heaven for?"
The most fun part of gardening is identifying strange and unusual plants for the casual observer. The garden started modestly, with a group of roses selling for $8 a plant, with free shipping, a QVC special. QVC once in a lifetime clearance sales, and Mrs. Ichabod found that one.
I always build up soil with organic matter, wherever I plant, because that is inexpensive, effective, and lasting. The parallel to the efficacy of the Word should be obvious. All the leaves have now become part of the soil, encouraged by layers of cardboard, newspapers, and wood mulch. Good soil has so many powerful elements that plants - and weeds - take off like nowhere else in the area: water retention, earthworm tunneling and fertilizing, fungus distribution of nutrients and water, birds planting their favorite fruits for future enjoyment (don't make me explain).
Most of the eye-popping, one of a kind, never-to-be-sold-again featured plants are disappointments. My elephant's ear effort was a joke, as it struggled to reach 15 inches instead of the six foot example in print. But - oh did the buckwheat grow all over the garden, reaching undreamed heights and effectively hiding the roses. My neighbor and her son pointed at the jungle from across the street and laughed. It is a good thing I do not know Laotian. But I had the last laugh, because that crop added large amounts of humus to the soil, simply by growing roots that did their part.
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| Triple Crown - the kudzu vine of berries. |
In contrast to elephant's ear, Joe Pye survived mishaps and grew 8 feet tall, with vanilla scented flowers attracting bees, butterflies, and hummingbird - the creatures used to sell "pollinator plants." If the merchants have nothing special in a plant, they say "Loved by hummingbirds" and great for pollinators.
I suggested Little Joe Pye and one reader tried it, loved it, and recommended it. I had an initial start where blackberries were taking over, but now that spot is the featured place for Little Joe Pye.
Alec Satin, the Lutheran Librarian, pointed out that propaganda - aka public relations - is based on fear. If I drive the "wrong car," people will laugh at me. During one Christmas trip to Moline, that is what happened. My older and younger brothers laughed at my Plymouth Fury III, never a glamor car but big and inexpensive for us. During that short stay we bailed out both brothers when their cool cars failed to start in the cold. We laughed.
I planted Triple Crown blackberries (no thorns, no seeds, no fruit for humans) on the sunny, dry side of the house, where weeds were growing joyously. I never realized the blackberries would reach around the corner of the house, which was very much in the shade, and take over the entire sweet corn area. The squirrels ravaged the corn the only time I planted Silver Queen for us, not them. This year I decided to end the Triple Crown monopoly, which only fed the birds and squirrels, but I feared the labor involved.
Triple Crown reminds me of Church Growth - lots of promises, but little more than a greedy weed always looking out for itself, breaking out everywhere - once invited.
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| Enchanted Peace |
My fears evaporated when I found that Triple Crown does effectively arch over gardening space to plant more of the same. The result is a tangled dome of green with very few plants growing underneath the greedy branches. My helper and I cleaned out the Triple Crown in two sessions. The next stage is cardboard and mulch to repurpose the berry market for squirrels and birds.
So I plant roses each year, this time only Enchanted Peace and more Veterans Honor. Each new bloom moves someone to say, "What's the name of that one?"
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| Heirloom |
