Wednesday, February 27, 2019

My Year of Orchids: Things don’t always go the way you expect you expect them to

Janet famously said the other day “things don’t always go the way you expect them to.” It was her usual understatement for a twist of fate in her gardening world. In a word: her raised beds were going from being a giant stack of soil pancakes to a short stack of one or two flapjacks. 

Not to mention the lettuce she lovingly tended was not tough but hard as a rock. Too much sun. Too much heat. But we agree that all this gardening activity, not the first time we’ve undertaken it but surely the first time in the climate of St. Petersburg, is a big experiment. 

Speaking of which. I don’t have any RIPs yet but a few of the orchids I put in the tree last July have seen better days. A good idea I think not to name names for now because resurrection can happen. Last time I looked there were healthy roots so I assume some meristem cells can get activated and start the process of plant regeneration. But for now things look just this side of grim.

We read, we study, we care for, and we coddle our plants. But sometimes it’s the wrong plant at the wrong place at the wrong time. A good chance to step back, consider the enterprise so far, and keep a watchful eye on how everyone is doing.

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