If birds of a feather flock together,
Do bats have a thing for flocking of wing?
If an apple a day keeps the doctor away,
How will those docs ever earn their pay?
Would a plum chewed in May
Make this "reform" okay?
A trip to Leon Sinks Geological Area last weekend produced some fruit for thought. I guess I must be "karst" (think Irish accent here). There has to be some limestone bedrock embedded in my brain that finally gave way. Today I worked a couple of hours at the Santa Rosa County (University of Florida) Extension Demonstration Gardens in Milton. Now that the weather has finally warmed up a little here in sunny Florida (ha!), work and joy aplenty await the willing worker who will give up some time to dig in the dirt and savor some rhyme! I worked most of the time with a veteran of the program with which I'm involved. When I arrived, she put me to work trimming some Japanese maple trees, and we talked about many things, garden-related and not. One of the things that impressed me the most about her was her willingness to let go. Let go? From our talk as we worked, I gathered that she spends a lot of time helping other people. She has been a Master Gardener for a number of years, yet she doesn't try to lord it over anyone just learning the ropes. I had a free hand to shape those trees, and I would have continued shaping them ad infinitum just for the sake of talking with her. Specific details of that conversation don't really matter. Over the course of a couple of hours, I learned--again, mind you!--that intention is key to my health and progress as a human being.
I took that picture of plum tree blossoms this morning before I drove to Milton. Last year, SAM and I planted two plum (Prunus) trees after finding healthy specimens at a local nursery. I went with the recommendations of the employee there and purchased two different cultivars of Prunus salicina for the purpose of optimizing pollination and fruit production, one of them known as "Bruce" and the other "Burbank." I wish I--and maybe the nursery owner(s)--had taken the time to be better informed and had followed certain recommendations backed by years of recent research. Maybe someday I will learn to seek, recognize, and follow the path of good intention.
We see the reverse in TREES of what we do in [RIVERS]. In these, all comes from one common stock and is distributed into innumerable branches, beginning at the root where the trunk is biggest of all, and ending in the extremities of the smallest twigs. The water here, in the sap of those trees, has a contrary course from what it has in rivers, where the course begins in the extremities of the smallest branches, and ends in the mouth of the river where the river is largest, and all the waters are collected into one body...
(from Jonathan Edwards' (1703-1758) Images or Shadows of Divine Things)
I see you learnt a lot from the veteran. I love Plums and that bloom looks so gorgeous that I could almost touch and feel it.
ReplyDeleteI love this...when you stumble upon a new person who has something to share that you really needed to hear! Awesome!
ReplyDeletePlums. Yes indeed, that's something I really need, some plums. When we were kids, our neighbour had a plum tree. The hours I spent sneaking over the fence!
ReplyDeleteOur MG group is getting busier by the day now that spring has knocked us all in the head! Talks, demonstrations, plant sales, and excursions to botanical places of interest are all so much fun! It's those things that make hort head MG politics bearable. And of course the camaraderie of like-minded folks. (I wish I could meet you in person some day!)
ReplyDeleteToo bad there isn't some rule that says, "Nurseryman, know of what thou speak." Most will recommend anything they have in stock and downplay anything their suppliers don't sell them.
ReplyDeleteOh well, don't we all have yards full of the 'recommended' disappointments?
Marnie
I have found that gardeners are very happy to share..well at least the ones I have met. A woman on my birding list is a long time master gardener and she has been so helpful to me..I just ordered the book that has your work in it from Amazon.... Michelle
ReplyDeleteIt is always nice when someone is willing to share their knowledge with you, letting you practice as you learn. A true teacher.
ReplyDeleteI am just getting acquainted with these wonderful MG veterans, and I'll be sad to leave them, Chandramouli, when we move to Tallahassee. They're a great group of people to work with.
ReplyDeleteJulie, gardeners are the ones I learn the most from, especially when meeting them for the first time. They don't know enough about my skills (or rather lack of them) to write me off just yet. LOL!
Mr. IG, I hope you get to plant some plum trees so your neighbors' kids get the same benefit that you did. Maybe you should cut a hole in the fence so they won't fall and hurt themselves, though!
TC, you mean there's politics involved with gardening? Eww! I would love to meet you and your family too. We will soon be moving a little closer to your location, east, I mean, not north, never north!
Marnie, that is so funny: "recommended disappointments." I would love to read your take on that topic in a post.
Why, thanks, Michelle! I hope you like the book. Every purchase helps the writers' group here remain a group. I'll be sorry to leave them too when we move, but I've already met a member of the Tallahassee group, and I'm hoping to make some new friends there.
Ann, I did know a little about pruning, but I wasn't about to tell her that. I learn the best when I keep my mouth shut and listen instead.
What a day to work on J. maples and talk with an experienced gardener. I bet she loved talking to you as much as you enjoyed talking to her. Sounds like a very fun day.
ReplyDeleteTina, the couple of hours we (all of the volunteers) spent working together just flew by. It's so much better than working alone in the garden, even though that's my preference at home. I guess it takes working with "birds of a feather" to make such a difference.
ReplyDelete