Weeds

My Gardener Brother H came to visit yesterday with Mum. He brought tomato plants and Echinacea plants for me. He ooh-aahed about my soil (from the river-- the BEST, Jerry!) When they first arrived, Mum commented on my plants in the window. She keeps telling me I need to repot some. See the apparently-crowded ones from my friend Nadine on the right? Yeah, those.

And then she asked what the dead thing was. “It’s the basil plant and it’s not dead. It still has a few sprigs,” I said. “What’s that thing growing next to it?” Mum says.

Now. I have to say that it was a little whisp of a thing when I first brought it in, and I’m not the best when it comes to houseplants. But I've managed to keep everything alive and I have enjoyed watching this whatever-it-is grow.

“It’s a tree.” I turned to my bro: “Do you know what kind it is? It’s really taken off.” He did not. Any tree leaf identifiers out there?

“Well. You need to get that out of there,” says Mum with authority.
I turned to my-brother-the- expert. “When should I repot it?”
Mum says, “Repot? It’s a weed!”
“Mum, it’s not a weed, it’s a tree.”
“Well it was a weed until you let it keep growing!”

Interesting. It made me think about the nature of weeds. What is a weed? A weed is something out of place. That’s all. A field full of dandelions is acceptable in a cow pasture. Joe Homeowner is not so welcoming. How many of us feel like weeds in our own lives? Perhaps it’s because you’re trying to fit in to someone else’s garden. Or perhaps you’ve outgrown your pot and it’s time to go to a bigger pot OR transplant yourself into the Big Garden.

So the question is: What kind of garden do you want to plant yourself in? Some people want the structure of a formal garden. Some people want an English garden with winding paths and sweet surprises around the corner. Some people want a rain forest. There are so many gardens, and the beauty of it is: You get to choose which garden you live in surrounded by which plants.

Yes, you do.