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God Does Care About My Plants
By Barbara Radisavljevic of Barb's People Builders
I acquired several bags of grass taken from a lawn at another house this week, and today was perfect weather for working in my gardens. I planned to use the grass for mulch in my vegetable and herb gardens, since we are in our third year of below normal rainfall. The first thing I wanted to do was water well and weed the areas I planned to mulch, so that the ground would have some water to retain. First I did the vegetable garden, since it has priority. But I had about 14 bags of mulch left over when I finished mulching the vegetables. I decided to do the herb garden next. Then I remembered that I had two plants that have been waiting since spring to be transplanted in this garden, and since the day was overcast, I decided today would be the day. I planted another butterfly bush and a rosemary that is supposed to grow upright, instead of creeping like the other one I planted there. As I was weeding before watering, I was thrilled to see a new borage seedling. It's been about two years since borage has been alive in this garden, because as soon as plants mature enough to bloom and produce seed, the gophers eat them. Somehow a seed from one of my last plants must have survived all these many months. Since I've been watering about once a week during our hot spell the past two months, that seed must have found the conditions right for spouting. Since borage is one of my favorite herbs, I'm thrilled see this little seedling, but I do wonder if the hungry gophers will let it live long enough to reseed. I started to water one side of this garden so that the transplants would be well equipped to begin their adjustment to the ground. While the sprinkler was on, I decided to weed the other half to get the weeds that the person I hired to do the job last week, seemed to have missed. I was amazed to see some plants that at first I thought might be weeds or an herb. But they didn't have that weedy look, and there were no herbs growing nearby. Then it dawned on me. About three or four years ago I had planted some Lantana transplants near there, but they never had grown very well. Maybe it was too hot and dry. They just never thrived. Then in the fall we had the coldest night since I've lived here -- a low of 12 degrees. That is below our normal lowest temperature, which is supposed to be 20 degrees. Not only did the Lantanas die, but almost almost all my gazanias in most of the gardens also died. The gazanias spread underground through their roots, so they began to come back two years ago and were doing nicely until the gophers decided they liked gazanias -- something they had never touched in previous years. I noticed that some of their roots must have also survived, since a few new plants this year are thriving. All these surprises convince me that God has built some wonderful survival mechanisms into his creation. We can already see that it has been built into the weeds, which seem to survive everything but pulling and poisons. If you pull off the top, the root will spout again next time it gets enough water. The weeds also reseed prolifically. God hates bare ground, seemingly, and so He sees that it is covered. The plants I discovered today, though, aren't weeds. The gazania is a ground cover, and cover the ground it will if nothing comes along to kill it, like frost or gophers. So I'm not too surprised that it has come back. The Lantana, though, was a real shocker. It's been dead for at least two years. Some of the root must have still been in the ground waiting for just the right conditions, and the right conditions must have occurred. Borage always reseeds, but it usually happens earlier in the year. That's why I was so surprised to see my new little seedling this afternoon.
It's nice to know that God seems to care about my flowers and herbs as much as I do. |
Garden Thoughts: A Blog on My Gardens
      
Part of my herb garden with the focus on the mum in the center.
My first butterfly bush is between the two sage plants. All are in bloom.
These are the butterfly bush (left) and the rosemary (right) that I transplanted today.
This is the baby borage I found today.
These are some of the gazanias that are thriving after bouncing back from destruction.
These are the Lantana plants that miraculously reappeared.
The Lantana plants above rock in front) are shown with their neighbors, some renewed gazanias (on left), a calendula, and some poppies. none are in bloom.
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What a wonderful garden the earth is! Beautifully written, Barb!
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