Thanks and Apologies


Blue Fortune, Red Dragon:  Thanks for being a team!

I want to apologize to Acacia 'Cousin Itt' and Adenanthos cuneatus.  Their own personal sprinkler head became engulfed by the neighbor's groundcover.  I didn't realize this until I went through all the irrigation zones.  No wonder 'Cousin Itt' looked so dried out--it had gone a year or more on next to no water.  It was dried out.  The Adenanthos squeaked by somehow.  Now it has its own drippers, and new growth. 
  I want to un-apologize to the Agapanthus that I thought returned from the roots;  it didn't.  What came up was Sprekelia formosissima.  I want to apologize to Sprekelia formosissima for leaving it in a shaded-out spot for too many years.  It deserved better.  Now it has better.  Sorry.  
 I want to thank Grevillea 'Mount Tamboritha' for hitting the ground running--bloom and growth ensued as soon as I planted it.  Thank you.
 I want to thank rose 'Old Port' for surviving its move.  I hope you like your new location, ideally located in morning to early afternoon sun, rich soil, and all that rain water.
Old Port says, "I do like it.  And you're welcome."
  I want to thank this Epiphyllum for surviving years of mistreatment and neglect, responding to a little attention with a lavish crop of flowers. 
 I want to thank rose 'Munstead Wood' for improving so much.  Every flower is more beautiful, dear.
 And Hemerocallis 'Bella Sera' for being so consistent, reliable, uncomplaining, and ruffled. 
And to this pair of variegated Agave desmetiana, thank you for not reverting to green, like most of the rest of your fellow clones did.  Sorry about the scale and the mealy bugs;  I nuked the bejezus out of them, so I hope you are feeling better. 
To Aloe suprafoliata,  I will be forever grateful that you managed to survive living in that prison of a tiny pot for years and years, and I am sorry about planting you on the front slope just in time for a terrible hot summer last year, and you survived--and you are growing again, and still beautiful, beautiful, and will be more beautiful still.  No, I won't let that Senecio engulf you.  I'll go pull it away from you right now, and the sprinkler will hit you a little better because of it, too.  You deserve the best. 

Dear  Dasylirion and Lagerstroemia 'Dynamite':  did you plan to coordinate the same glowing tawny red color in a sort of solidarity?  I certainly did not think of it.  Thank you for days of amazement. 
If we humans did but thank the wonderful fellow living things we share the world with, and try more sincerely to treat them with respect, and repent of our errors and seek to do better by them, what days of amazement we would have.  Do have. 

Comments

  1. Thanks for the reminder to slow down, step back, and enjoy the beauty that each individual plant has to offer.

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  2. I have no doubt that your plants love and appreciate all the care they receive from you. Every photo shows it.

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    1. Except the plants I don't take pictures of...but let's not talk about those.

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  3. Cute post, made me smile here this morning!

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  4. Well said! How did you manage to get shots of Red Dragon without hummers in the frame? Looks like a magnet.

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    1. I did nearly collide with two of them, matter of fact. It's a busy garden out there.

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  5. The combination of the blue and red in first picture is wonderful, but the photo with the Dasylirion and Lagerstroemia is out of this world, they show like dynamite I think. That's the fun the wonder about something you have not planned.

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    1. All the best combinations in this garden were unplanned. Maybe some day I'll learn to do it on purpose.

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  6. And thank you, for this beautiful post. Loved it.

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  7. Such beautiful flowers dear Hoover and lovely of you to appreciate the beauty they all share with you and us. Poor 'Cousin Itt", I hope he does much better now. I love the flowers in the last image,such a beautiful colour.
    Happy week!
    xoxoxo ♡

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    1. Well, 'Cousin Itt' didn't make it, so perhaps that gives me an excuse to try again--redemption. Happy week to you, Dianne!

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  8. Dear Hoover, is the flower in the last image a Salvia and which kind please?
    xoxoxo ♡

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    1. That is the Salvia 'Red Dragon' again, though to me it looks more orange than red.

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    2. Thank you dear Hoover, yes, it does look more orange than red, it must be the light.
      xoxoxo ♡

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  9. Well said! I apologize to my plants more often than I wish were necessary and certainly thank them all the time!

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  10. I like the gentle tone. When I try something similar it sounds a lot more strident. Better to catch flies with honey. Not that I'm comparing humans to flies...well, maybe I am a little. See, there's that strident tone! And you're right about the Marieana, it doesn't want to propagate itself from cuttings. Maybe layering?

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    1. Strident?!?

      I am wondering about the Maireana--does the beastie ever bloom? Yes I think I got a stem to layer at one point, after several years of stems laying on the soil. This is not a plant in a hurry.

      Okay, San Marcos says it blooms. Therefore there must be seeds in there somewhere...

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  11. I love your attitude of gratitude. It's pretty amazing how little some of our plants need to survive, let alone be happy. Recognizing what they bring to our lives can never be overdone. Gracefully accomplished, Hoover.

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    1. Thank you, kind lady. Gratitude is a short cut to happiness.

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  12. Great post! It made me smile and reminded me to appreciate my plants more! I love the Dasylirion flower...the color is so beautiful, great shot!

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  13. I like the idea of apologising to your plants ... if I started I would never stop ! Sorry for treading on you and breaking your main stem, sorry for accidentally cutting you down with my secateurs ...

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  14. This made me think of late night's Jimmy Fallon and his "thank you" segment. That's a compliment, coming from me.

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