It's October already, not sure how that happened.
Yesterday was a fallow day for writing. Slow thoughtful day, not a blogging day. Blogging can get to resemble a treadmill, particularly when people expect a post and ask where it is! Now and then it just isn't.
Yesterday I declared my freedom from plants I don't like, and started by heaving the aglaonema that was basically dumped on me by a neighbor. I might offer it on Freecycle.
And I think the staghorn fern has reached the end of its days, after a few good years, another dumpee, never a great specimen.
There's a sense of relief that it's okay to return to nature, or other homes, plants I've had enough of. Also a first, since I've always felt obliged to accept every plant neighbors were tired of, rescue fashion. I'm rethinking my rights!
And yesterday I got an id question about a pretty flowering plant which seemed to have shown up in a friend's flowerbed by who knows what means. I guessed it was a Rose of Sharon, some of which self seed wildly.
This way, perhaps I will have something to transplant next year after the fence is replaced, if it ever is. It's at a dead stop now, waiting for supplies.
I have a cold or an allergy or something dragging on, maybe I should skip the knitting group today for the sake of social responsibility. If it's a cold, not to spread it. I'll see how the morning goes maybe.
I was planning on watching a program about the history of Quakers in NJ last evening, then the speaker sent out a handout ahead of time. Dryest, dullest thing, not my speed.
So I skipped the Zoom and did a bit of exploration on YouTube, much more interesting. And I found that a lot of what I do and how I proceed with art and living is quite Quaker like, interesting. I might become a Quaker at large, not being interested in group things much. I'm going to check in the next local Friends Zoom meeting.
I certainly always admired the spirit of Fox, the founder, a friend of King Charles. He is said to have gone into the king's presence with his hat on and was reproved for it.
Whereupon, true to his principles, he replied "Charles, thou dost not doff thy hat (the crown) to me. I do not doff my hat to thee." Good job he was a friend. It wouldn't have gone down well otherwise. Such dignity and walking the walk though. No title for another human being, courtesy but no special privilege even to a king. Thrills my little egalitarian heart!
So that's what a fallow day will do for a person! No end of trouble you can get into.
I've lived happily plant-free for many years now. Only fake greenery for me! So much less work.
ReplyDeleteI do need plant life. But it's my choice from now on. My plants, my choice!
Deletemy sister is downsizing her plants since now she doesn't really have a good place to winter over much. I know that mallow is called Rose of Sharon in many places but we always called it Althea. I have six or seven planted around the house...white, white with pink throat, blue/purple, and a double purple.
ReplyDeleteHere mallow is a waterside plant, different from the hibiscus family of Rose of Sharon. Common names are very confusing.
DeleteMy late lamented rose of Sharon was a lovely blue.
To be more accurate, mallow is malva, a different part of the hibiscus family than the rose of Sharon I'm looking at.
Deletenot to be a stickler or anything but, "Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus syriacus), also known as Shrub Althea, is a member of the mallow family (Malvaceae)." as are the tropical hibiscus and the marsh malllows.
DeleteI tried some non-toxic feline friendly plants and one of my female cats used them as extra litter boxes. That ended my attempt at keeping plants.
ReplyDeleteI did okay with cats and plants. They rarely ate them, left the soil alone. I used to grow spider plants and leave the ones for the cats lower down so they could eat them as healthy greens. The ones I wanted to keep I suspended higher up. And I can have cut flowers now there's nobody drinking the water and throwing the flowers around!
DeleteI do love love all of the hibiscus varieties I know of. The Rose of Sharon, the Confederate Rose, the okra, the swamp mallows, the tropical varieties. No matter what form they are in, they are always identifiable as being of that particular family, aren't they?
ReplyDeleteThey all look exotic but they're quite prolific. If you don't have reno contractors stamping on them in work boots, that is
DeleteYou are wise to declare your freedom from plants you don't like. We should keep what makes us happy! I do hope you are feeling better soon. This time of year I deal with allergies. A Rose of Sharon will be lovely to plant and look forward to next year!
ReplyDeleteIt's quite a recent discovery for me that there are plants I don't like. I didn't allow those preferences in before. It felt discriminatory!
DeleteI have such a hard time getting rid of plants which is one of the reasons why I have a love/hate relationship with poinsettias. I love them throughout December and maybe into the second week of January and then I want them gone. But...I can't bring myself to get rid of a living thing so they linger and annoy me no end.
ReplyDeleteHope you're soon feeling better!
Once you have started the seeds and have a bit of growth, you can propagate simply by sticking a branch into the ground where you want it to grow.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite form. I do it with houseplants all the time. Begonias, crown of thorns, several kinds.
DeleteWithout my husband to tend them, I wouldn’t have houseplants. The veg patch is more my speed.
ReplyDeleteMisfits is my veg speed these days!
DeleteAt least you didn't lose your appendix in the interim. :-) Glad you're choosing when to post, as you are choosing which plants to keep and which to pitch.
ReplyDeleteWe added a rose of Sharon (white with red throat) a few years ago. Surprisingly, the hummingbirds love it. May your seeds sprout well and avoid the trompling boots of unobservant workmen.
Chris from Boise
My appendix went many years ago, added to another major abdominal surgery because my surgeon said I absolutely could not have another abdominal surgery. That was the olden days with the surgery where you ended with big zipper scars! So I was out of action days just from the anaesthetic, and weeks more before I could walk unaided! Bad old days.
DeleteI love how many people have Rose of Sharon stories!
We've come an incredible way in medicine: my dad had a kidney removed when he was in his 20s, and even 50 years later you could see the huge horizontal scar that did indeed look like a zipper--three years ago I had a kidney removed with robotics, the tiny scar was held together with tape and butterfly clamps, and three days later I went home. The adhesions were the only pain I felt. Seeing butterfly clamps holding surgical incisions together always terrifies me. Gosh I wonder why.
DeleteI've come down with a cold too after being incredibly healthy since the very first lockdown began.
ReplyDeleteDoes Rose of Sharon also come in yellow?
I don't think so. Ive seen white, pinks, blues, purplish, no yellow. But if it does, some reader here will know and tell us. I think I have change of season thing, like allergies but maybe not.
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