This summer I experienced the results of mature plants in rich soil - giant Joe Pye Weeds dwarfing everything and Bee Balm spreading like a rumor. Once I cut down those superspreaders - which still grow - other plants began to show off: roses, Clethra, hosta, wild strawberries.
The established Clethra were surrounded and almost hidden, but they bloomed, attracted butterflies, and filled the air with sweetness and spice.
The little Clethra shrub does so well that I got a quartet of them to enhance the effect. Reality struck me soon after. I soaked them in rainwater before planting, and I imagined them getting enough water at that point. However, I neglected the effect of dry soil all around, drawing the moisture away. They began to look stressed and leaves curled.
Make It Rain!
New plants have weak roots. They are easily knocked over and stressed from lack of rain. Fortunately I had an arsenal in the backyard, a row of barrels and buckets full of rainwater.
"Make it rain!" is a military slogan for urging troops to work so hard that the rafters sweat. I prefer carrying it. I bought a second watering can (same model, different color, by accident) so I can carry four gallons at once from the back to the front. Paint bucket handles do not last and the little white plastic hand-saver breaks from being used often.
I have been hauling rainwater to the Clethra quartet, and they have responded well. Like new roses, they are sending down roots that will anchor and feed them. The fungi connect with the roots for watering and nutrition. The fungi need carbon to grow, so they swap water and the minerals needed in exchange for the carbon they lack.
Serious consideration of this exchange can only conclude - this was engineered at Creation. Most of my life I had no idea how this worked, because the soil scientists were also unaware. They may not believe in God, but the horticultural evidence points to Genesis 1 and John 1. That reminds me - the horticultural subjunctive is "Let us begin."
Tomorrow is the Feast Day of St. Francis, and he seems to bear a strong resemblance, no?
Someone was terribly offended that I created this Photoshop, so I enjoying posting it.
Religious Quacks of Today
The modern religious quacks want to offer quick solutions, to make them feel successful while they are destroying Christianity. They are pouring on chemical fertilizer, as one chemical engineer taught me in planting roses, and wondering why their fast results are not lasting.
I had my response to the chemical engineers from Dow, including one agricultural chemist who came to look at my Silver Queen corn. I planted the corn over four feet of compost and soil. The plot was behind the garage, so he was all prepared to smirk when he walked back. Then his neck craned up and up and up. He said, "Silver Queen is my favorite. It is not supposed to grow so tall."
I hastened to add that the ears were perfect and packed with kernels.
The corn patch started with the soil foundation. I dug the pit, and kids dug it deeper. I filled it with rabbit-grow from beneath their cages, lawn grass, and decomposing leaves. Corn is a heavy feeder, demanding water and good nutrition.
Ministers and congregations now want to flourish with warmed-over bar music and other gimmicks. They neglect the foundation completely, and the foundation of Biblical wisdom is everything.
A liberal bishop in the LCA said something that never came from the so-called conservative leaders of WELS-LCMS - "Everything depends on the Word."
