Reality bites & in this case - its more of stings and spikes. I love plants, l really do but sometimes you can't really say that it works both ways. For instance, I rescued this agave from the abandon area (right now, the whole place is sealed for demolition) Somehow, I manage to collect some of this pups but they somehow had slowly turned rotten and died.
Followed by my Rue.
Actually it was doing well until the mealybugs strike and killed the parent plant. I actually had reserve (those which I had trimmed and propagated for emergencies such as these) but I had forgotten that it was the only plant I had and I had given it to mum who had been desiring it (as to say, and herb or medicinal plants are very much coveted by the old-folks)
Then the orchids.
Both of these were actually rescued from abandoned areas, the first one somehow managed to flower continuously til it just drop dead. (I thought, orchids live forever?) Anyway, these are the last memories of what I had in my garden.
Farewell plants - I do miss you Rue, your lovely exotic fragrance but it seemed that its a little difficult for sensitive plants to survive in my hardcore garden, especially when I'm just too busy to tend the garden everyday.
A few more had already died - of which I do not even get to snap their pictures (Verbena, Water lily & Balsam) I guess they are never meant to be.
(sob, sob... "blow the nose" - OK, done)
I still got a lot of the rest of the collection which needs pruning and the weeding and the another set of re-arranging to do all over again as they all are overgrowing and turning into a jungle.
James I went through the same ordeal in the past few weeks too. The disappointment didn't last for too long though!
ReplyDeleteJust think that you now have room to grow some new things - gardens would become boring if everything grew well all of the time and we probably would become bored with it all. My motto is that everything in the garden has to earn its space - like you I can't be in the garden every day though I would like that very much!
Have a great week :) Rosie
I feel sentimental reading your post today. The same happens in my garden, James, some plants come and some left. With their demise, we gain new lessons on how to care for those plants better in the future. Gardening is similar to life.
ReplyDeleteSome of my plants died recently too, I think due to the current wet weather. Mealy bugs was the killer, and my enemy. I bought some healthy looking plants from a nursery which came home to infect my clump of peace lilies with fungus. The source plant died bringing along a few companions to the afterworld. Now, I have to disinfect my new pot of soil too :(
ReplyDeleteThe good thing about plants is that when they die, they become compost and fertilizer for the future generation of plants, unless they died of infection.
My hatred for the mealy bugs and fungus mask whatever sadness I feel for my dead plants. My chili, garlic and sulphur sprays didn't help, so I just bought an organic pesticide to act as the new pest buster!
Hi James,
ReplyDeleteI wish to express my sympathy at the loss of those plants. I hope your other plants stay healthy so you can enjoy them.
I know I shouldn't laugh but the part about you blowing your nose was cute.
ReplyDeleteSorry about your plants. I use Agave nectar all the time. Love it. Probably not the same plant but I believe there are many varieties of Agave.
James: sorry about your loss of the plants. Just think about they already got a longer life because of your rescue at the first place. And you saved much more than you lost! And, now you can plant or rescue more plants since you have a little more space?
ReplyDeleteI miss my dearly departed plants as well, so I know where you're coming from. I lost a special bromeliad my husband had bought for me in our winter freeze this year. Very sad. I should not have left it outside. Oh, and my royal poinciana that was cut down due to brittle wood is especially missed. :`(
ReplyDeleteSo sad for you... I hope you will be able to find more plants. Btw does that orchid has clumps? They may revive. Just keep watering. Sometimes they are so used to be in the 'wild' (neglect), they are not used to be pampered ;-)
ReplyDeletewell I definitely admire the time, effort, and care you put into saving these guys!!
ReplyDeleteThank you all for the kind thoughts concerning my loss. I'm not disappointed though, as I know that rescuing this plant may only have 50% of chance of survival as they go thru shock & change of enviorment.
ReplyDeleteI guess its an ongoing process of gardening that all gardeners experience.
Hello James,
ReplyDeleteI have the same Agave growing in my garden. It is an Agave angustifolia. They grow quite easily here in the desert. I can empathize with killing plant accidentally - all gardeners have :-)