It feels like this blog continues to be put on the back burner. Not finding the time to sit and craft a post and catch up with readers gnaws at me while I scurry around outside potting plants, weeding the display beds, and planting the vegetable gardens. The rain, which is always welcome in our world, has put some time constraints on our activity. We are hearing from customers that their own gardens are late in emerging, some beds too soggy to plant or work in, the cold temps and rain slowing the process. Regardless of the coolness or damp conditions, the nursery is full, customers are rolling in to purchase plants, and we are busy, busy. In the early evening when we finally roll indoors, I am very ready for a quick meal (and a glass of wine, yes, perhaps this too!) and then off to bed we go without ever even considering that I could muster the energy to write something worth reading. So, please forgive me while I step aside to toil in the gardens, I’ll be here and post when I can actually sit and share more than a quick ‘hello’. I’m not disappearing, just preoccupied with the ‘doing’ of other activities at the moment. I hope you are doing well and that your gardens are flourishing. Whew! Time…that elusive reality!
I recently read and liked this poem from Mary Oliver’s collection. Worrying is a skill I’ve seemed to have mastered rather well. So, I’ll share it with you, here it goes, enjoy!
“I Worried”
I worried a lot. Will the garden grow, will the rivers
flow in the right direction, will the earth turn
as it was taught, and if not how shall
I correct it?
Was I right, was I wrong, will I be forgiven,
can I do better?
Will I ever be able to sing, even the sparrows
can do it and I am, well,
hopeless.
Is my eyesight fading or am I just imagining it,
am I going to get rheumatism,
lockjaw, dementia?
Finally I saw that worrying had come to nothing.
And gave it up. And took my old body
and went out into the morning,
and sang.”
― Mary Oliver, Swan: Poems and Prose Poems
Hi Denise, I have tried to see you in person but I am totally time challenged this spring. My next attempt will be Monday as I drive by you from Portland to make a 4:00 landscape design workshop I organized. Again, I may be too stretched for time to pop in.
I’m riding around in my car with a print out of this:
https://plantlust.com/plants/8259/arisaema-triphyllum-black-jack/
Other web sites confirm that this is not hardy in our zone. 3 of us bought the jack (Donna on my recommendation) and all 3 did not make it. I don’t think Donna Busch cares, but I bought 2 – one for a friend in Portland – and I think it would be honorable to offer me $70 in replacements given it should not have been sold to me.
What is your perspective?
Thanks, Mary
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Hi Mary,
If it was indeed Arisaema triphyllum- Black Jack that you have, we don’t sell that. What you may have bought from us is Arisaema sikokianum, known as Rice Cake. We have grown this here at the nursery with excellent success, as have customers. A friend who has nursery in Vermont sells and has great success with this Jack as well. It does like very good drainage, not sure where you or your friends planted yours, but that certainly could have been the issue. Give this last winter and the feedback we are getting from gardeners regarding plant losses…40 year old Japanese Maples, bleeding hearts they have owned for years, even very mature hosta. This particular winter was very hard on many plants. Our Arisaema is up and blooming in several locations. Many customers have reported the same. Sorry you have not had luck with this particular plant in your garden.
Beautiful plant, lovely poem, and we understand. You live the life of my grandparents – toil from dawn to dusk. But, it’s a good life so enjoy it in between the rain. Rained here all day yesterday, today it is gray and gloomy. In a few minutes, I’m headed out to see how things are doing and will enjoy my time with Mother Nature. 🙂
Wonderful poem, wonderful poet! I do have a suggestion for you. During the busy times, when there is no time to write, why don’t you regularly feature one of your beauties? Wouldn’t have to write much. Only the name of what you have shared. One of my gardening friends has something she calls “The Daily Dose,” beauties from her garden that she shares on, well, a daily basis. For you, it could be a weekly dose or however much you might want to share some of the lovely things growing around your place. Anyway, just a thought.
Lovely poem!
Yes, I imagine you are beat by the end of the day! But I am surprised you have plants left as my mom and sister were there a week or two ago!
Everything is very late, and my little mountain laurel hasn’t even shown a bud yet!! I hope it blooms this year.
No worries, gardeners understand ‘Spring Rush!’
Yes, especially the ‘Spring Rush’ that continues all year.
Denise, Thank you for the reminder, via beloved Mary Oliver, to sing in the garden. The birdsongs have been spectacular despite our worries! Lovely to spend.valuable.time with you and Rick this weekend! Hugs, Susan and Ian
I could learn a lot from that poem! What is it about worrying, that draws us in?? I miss your posts when you’re busy and I always look forward to seeing you back here–but you mustn’t worry! We’ll wait . . . .
Denise, I love the Mary Oliver poem. I was having a conversation about this with a friend yesterday, learning not to worry about what the weather will be on the day we planned an outing or to feel responsible if it is less than perfect! You’re not the only one who has had trouble making time for blogging this spring. It seems as though our delayed garden season just means that everything is happening faster now that it has begun!