David Heiller
One of the nice
things about gardening is giving plants away and receiving plants in return. A
friend, “Cynthia,” came over for supper a couple weeks ago. Before she came,
she asked if we would like some physostegia. I think that’s how you spell it.
Like most flowers, it also has a common name, “sensitive plant.”
I thought it was mighty sensitive of Cynthia to ask, so I said yes.
Never turn down a free plant, unless it’s creeping Charlie. More about that later.
“Do you have any catnip?” I asked. Yes, this sensitive person
replied, and she brought some of that along too. Both of them are growing in our
garden now.
After she left, I was mad at myself because I didn’t send any plants
home with her. I meant to. But I will. Guys can be sensitive too. Another
friend, whom I will call “Liz,” dropped off her daughter to stay with our
daughter on Sunday. We sent Liz packing with some foxglove and hollyhocks. And
the next day, when she came to pick up her daughter, Liz had some phlox for us.
We found a choice spot for it right away.
I brought another friend, named “Sue,” some Sweet William a few weeks
ago. She thanked me sincerely. She’d had a hard day, she said, and a plant was
just what she needed. Then Sue called on Sunday and said she had some extra
asparagus for us, and if we stopped to get it, could we bring a bleeding heart
and a few hollyhocks?
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| David is partially responsible for 75% of all hollyhocks growing in northern Pine County! He loved giving them to people. This photo was taken by Cindy Mae Swee. |
No problem. I dug them up and we dropped them off, and the next day,
Sue called again and asked if we could use any potatoes. Yes. Never turn down
free potatoes. Now creeping Charlie on the other hand...
I could go on. Maybe you’ve got similar stories. If you do, you know
that it is just plain fun to give and receive plants. Giving something you’ve
grown, something that’s alive, is like giving a part of yourself.
And contrary to that old cliché, ‘tis even better to receive than
give. When the plants grow and flower, or are harvested, they remind you of
that person.
I was interviewing Erv Prachar of Willow River for our Spring Home
and Garden Edition about a month ago. He’s got a fantastic garden. I noticed some
peonies in his yard, and mentioned that I liked peonies. “Yeah, my sister, Albina
gave them to me. They come from the home place,” Erv said in that loud voice of
his.
Albina Sostak is a
great flower giver, and she gave me some peonies last fall, which are doing well.
I told Erv that. “Hey, we’re related,” I and that made us both laugh.
Think about it. Our
gardens must make Peyton Place look like a nursing home. There are probably
first cousins marrying each other right before our eyes, and we don’t even know
it. Maybe that’s why we plant them in flower beds.
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| Creeping Charlie looms large... yikes... |
As for that creeping
Charlie, I have a whole yard
full of it. And it all started from a slip plant that a “friend,” whose name is
“Chauncey” (I’m not making that one up either
gave me back in 1981 when we were selling insurance together. He gave it to me at a sales meeting,
and said I was as persistent as creeping Charlie, and I took that as a compliment,
and planted it, and now it’s proving a lot more persistent than I’ll ever be.
It’s the zebra mussel of the plant world. Nothing can stop it from spreading.
My wife, whom I’ll
call “Cindy”, still reminds me about it every time she pulls creeping Charlie
from the flower garden in the front yard.
So give some plants
away. You’ll feel and you’ll get a few in return. Unless you give creeping
Charlie.
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