I dedicate this blog post to a friend in Singapore who, by her own reasons, calls herself a novice gardener - and to all out there who love to grow plants or simply like plants but have never tried to grow one --- or have never grown one even if they tried so hard
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Behind me are three of my favorite bird's nests. Hope you are able to spot them here :-)
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As you know, Joyce, this hobby, our hobby, is not a thing of glamour; sometimes you'll get dirt or catch skin burn especially when you could not seem to avoid the sun while tending the plant outdoors. But just as it is, there's nothing like the joy we can get from growing plants - the delightful surprises when you see the buddings and all the blooming which seems to me are the perfect rewards we always look forward to. Besides that, plants are a great stress reliever - but not everyone will agree or can relate to that, of course. Mind you Joyce, I do not have a lovely garden but I wish to have one in the future! Right now all I can boast about is the fact I can plant, and this that turned out to be something I love to do especially on the onset of rains when plants thrive and grow best.
Second Joyce, you must understand that we are two different people with varying issues when it comes to plants and gardening. You love cactus and succulent; I prefer flowering plants and bulbs; you love to nurse some of your plants in small ceramic pots and keep them under the comforts and shades of your home in your full view; I grow my plants directly in our yard and on the usual pots made of clay and place them outdoors where they can directly bask under the sun and enjoy rains during the season. You deal with issues on over watering - and by so doing you have lost some precious cactus from your row of collection. As a cactus lover, you should have known (I suppose you know) that too much water can actually kill cactus - but you still over water and I simply don't get it why. Well, how can I blame you? You've got this issue, I have my own. If your issue is over watering, mine is that I fail to water my plants, especially nowadays when they need it most. You see I work on weekdays; I just can't simply squeeze in my schedule watering the plants before or after work; I leave the house early; and by some reason I would come home late mostly feeling tired to still manage to pull the water hose and give my plants some splash of water; The same thing on Sundays - but of course I'm just trying to find good and valid excuses! My point is, you over water; I do exactly just the opposite. I don't get you; neither do I get myself. And oh by the way, since you have the tendency to over water, again I highly recommend that you try to grow some bulbs. You like plants that are easy to manage; those you can actually leave behind and not worry about when you go out of town - just like cactus. Well, I think bulbs are for you. You can leave bulbs behind and no need to worry; they don't actually die; their leaves and flowers may wither, but with continuous watering (say when you come back from long out-of-town trips), the bulb may as well grow and bud again.
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They are back to life after months of being 'dead'. This bulb is known for its medicinal uses, too.
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I don't know the roots of your hobby or what motivated you and made you addicted to plants, but mine didn't come from a 'flowery' beginning; it's the least thing I thought I would love to do. You see, when you don't have the so-called "green thumb", you won't seem to get interested in plants; when I was young I remember my inang (mother) brought home five pots of plants given to her by a friend. The plants were beautiful; but in time, they died and withered one by one. You can find a considerable space around our house where you can grow plants and trees of many sorts. My childhood memory gives me a clear view of twenty six (26) huge trees around our house - 14 Star Apple, 6 Tamarind, 1 Guava, 3 Acacia Trees, 2 really huge camachile, along with a number of vegetables and greens like Saluyut (a native green leafy vegetable) and spinach; most of which would sprout just like wild grass on rainy days. Over the years, the number of the trees have gone down remarkably; some, especially the huge ones, we have them cut down for fear they might endanger lives and property especially during typhoons; while several others were cut down because they grew old and large part of their trunks began to rot; from 26 trees, now the number has gone down to 12, mostly star apple, plus one sinigwelas tree which has grown big in over fifteen years. It was planted in front of our house by my beloved uncle who passed away just a few days before my graduation from college - an event that brought a hundred-fold pain in my heart. Upon survey in our area now, I can see some new seedlings of paper trees and I think three or four coconut trees along with some avocados, mangoes, tower trees, some citrus and chicos (a native fruit which looks like kiwis on the outside) which were grown by my brother and my parents to replace those that have been cut down. From childhood days to present, I have seen how our space has changed in terms of the plants we grow. Today I have some hibiscus, ferns, cactus, birds nest, a handful of orchids which don't look attractive and have never blossomed in years time, bougainvilleas of different colors, water plants, native roses, a few vines and many others, which I think you are pretty much familiar with because we both live in tropical countries - what grows there, grows here.
So there. Among the ones mentioned, birds nests are my favorites. I know you've got a lot of this type there in Singapore. As for my bougainvilleas, I used to grow them in pots until a few years back my inang transferred them directly on soil at the perimeter area. There they have thrived and grown out of control. Probably one of these days I'll find time to trim or arrange that particular area where they are planted. Going back to the topic how I started my interest in plants, my distant memory dictates that it all started when I visited a colleague's garden. Aside from that, my sister-in-law introduced me to this hobby. She has this 'green thumb' that she would often amaze me by her effortless ability to grow cuttings and seedlings. Once I tried - to no avail - but I didn't give up. then again I tried - and I was happy to see some fresh leaves from my rose and bougainvillea cuttings! Since then I started growing some more! As I keep doing so, I guess I unlocked a secret about plants. I realized it does not really depend on the green thumb thing but it's an issue of loving what you're doing. The more you enjoy and put your heart to what you do, the more likely you'll get positive results. I say so, because from two cuttings, I was able to grow three, four, five more.
We grow some plants, we lose some in the process. You know this Joyce, I'm sure. You have lost and added a number of varieties in your collection. I noticed that with the different kinds of plants and flowers that were handed to me for free by friends and neighbors, or with those I have bought from local gardeners, some endured and several types did not. In my case, I have lost several plants to time and season; some did not survive the heat of the summer; others suffered too much water during rainy days; the rest I've lost due to some incidents, like native chickens stepping on the plants and even eating them. Sometimes when my favorites withered and died, I would feel sad especially when I could no longer find the same types anywhere. With this I realize:
SOME PLANTS ARE FOR KEEPS, OTHERS ARE NOT
SOME ENDURE, OTHERS DO NOT
SOME PATIENCE, SOME LOVE TO SHOW
WATCH THEM BUD, THRIVE AND GROW
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Some of the chickens roaming around have exasperated me that I asked my brother to have them caged to keep them away from my plants. This was four years ago. And the water plant that climbed the Star Apple Tree here eventually died when the tree was cut down
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On various occasions, I also realized that as we tend our plants, we accidentally hurt or destroy things - sometimes even those we want to keep. Remember the time when your plant tray dropped and your cactus remained scattered on the floor for several hours until you came back home for some cleaning? Yeah, things like that happen, no matter how careful we are. Last week, when I was working outdoors, I saw that I had trampled on a single flower of one of my bulbs - how it was plucked out of the stem I do not know. All I know I was trampling on it. The same is true in our lives. We sometimes ignore or even hurt people (or vice versa) as we go about our business and daily concerns and activities. Hope that as we get busy with things in our lives, we will not forget and ignore and lose what really matters most in this life.
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The bulb flower I had trampled on while working on my plants last week
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Growing plants requires and tests your patience. You know that for sure. Patience in tending them, watering them, trimming and watching them grow. I had this experience with roses and bougainvillea - when you try to grow some cuttings you would always feel like giving up because in most cases you would wait long time. But with continuous watering, you will be delighted to see them beginning to bud! To me those are delightful surprises! For my birds nest, I counted years to see them grow. They were just young and small when I bought them (I think about twenty pieces) but now those that survived, only six, have grown into such big birds nests that they can actually be a good home to a number of birds!
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Taken four years ago. These four bird's nests have grown bigger, along with two others not on this photo
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This is what it looked like before in our front yard during rainy season
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Lastly Joyce, on virtue of patience, I believe that we are called to be patient not only towards others but also towards ourselves. This is another thing we can learn from gardening and growing plants. Just like how we are with plants, hope we can develop a high level of perseverance with ourselves, that no matter what, we will keep on and hold on to the ONE WHO CAUSES AND MAKES THINGS GROW, and that we painstakingly take those little steps toward growth and maturity. We have different circumstances and situations - that is a given fact. As somebody once told me: each of our paths are different - but I hope wherever we are, regardless of the space allotted to us, we will be like plants on good soil, being sustained by enough sunlight and water - so that
in season and out of season we endure
That no matter what and where life takes us
We remain steadfast; Our faith unwavering
That where we are planted
There each day we beautifully grow
Happy gardening Joyce!
