Hi Griff,
I'll tell you a funny story.
Years ago about 30 friends of mine and I used to go camping out in the
desert. The area we selected up near Cortez Junction had a stream lined
with black basalt rock and tall trees that had roots spiraling over the
ground. There were a lot of indigenous herbs growing here that the
American Indians used to use in centuries past...horehound, mullein,
watercress, datura (thorn apple), broom, etc.
Also, there were wild grape vines and many flowering weeds of various
types (wildflowers) that I did not know the names of.
We used to go camping up to 5 or 6 times every year, and each time I
would dig something interesting and pot it, and transport it back to my garden
in Phoenix.
My friend Gerry, who lived next door to me in the duplex, used to have a
nursery in Florida, and knew a lot about plants. One night when I
was off doing something, he told the rest of our friends he was really amazed
that the plants I bring back not only live, but thrive. Apparently, he
told them that plants taken from the wild do not usually make it, and you
should keep the north side of the plant facing north etc, and that what I do
should not live. He said I apparently don't know that and nobody has
told the plants that either, because they grow for me.
Tom Barryhill, who owned and ran Barryhill Nursery in Black Canyon City
was visiting us that trip (he rarely went camping with us), and he and Gerry
decided they were going to pull a nasty little joke on me.
The next day, Tom asked which ones of us would like to go on a nature
walk and he would show us all the medicinal herbs that grow around the area,
and of course I went, along with everyone else. Most of the herbs I knew
of, but toward the end of the tour, Tom pointed at a weed looking thing and
said it was a wild artichoke. The Indians used to eat them all the
time.
He knew, as did the others that I would be digging and transplanting that
wild artichoke home to grow and eat.
So, I dug it and transplanted it into a one gallon pot, brought it back
to Phoenix, and I planted it in a planter 1 foot cubed. I then watered
it, fertilized it, pruned the dead leaves from it, watched it grow and get
bigger and bigger. Soon those five inch silver green leaves in a star
shape got about 2 feet long each. It was a very unusual looking
plant. People would come over and would marvel at my wild artichoke
plant.
Then one day, I noticed it was developing a stalk, and boy did I get
excited. The stalk grew taller and taller and taller until it was about
5 feet tall, and at the very top, it was beginning to form a head. In
the mean time, I kept up my watering, fertilizing, pruning, weeding, and
caring for this plant like it was the only one in the world because I wanted a
scrumptious artichoke to develop.
The day finally came when I felt it was of a size and maturity to
harvest. I remember looking at it before going to work thinking I would
have it for dinner that night.
However, when I got home I looked at it and horror of horrors, the darned
thing was blooming!!! Worst of all, I then recognized the plant and
realized what it was...
It was one of those G.D.THISTLE plants that grow on the side of the roads
out in the desert!!!!!!!!! I couldn't believe it!!!! Here,
for months, I had been watering, fertilizing, weeding, pruning a fricken WEED
for gawds sakes! Oh was I pissed!
I went next door to get my neighbor to show him, and he came out and I
told him what it was and he roared and roared. He said he knew all about
it and they were playing a joke on me because they knew I would drag the plant
back to Phoenix. He said I had the most healthiest weed on the planet
and that he had been giving Tommy weekly reports on Patrick's Weed, and they
got a lot of laughter out of it...for one thing it should have died and
didn't. Then it grew into a master specimen, and I had not yet
recognized it! They just thought that to be the funniest thing (and also
one of the most diabolical tricks) they have ever done to someone. He
said my face was just RED.
I ended up getting the last laugh, however. I remember learning
when I was over in Germany that they would cut up thistle plants there and rot
them in water until they turned black, and that tomato plants just LOVED that
water. So I chopped up the thistle plant with the lawn mower and put it
into water until it turned black and used it on my tomatoes, and it sure
picked them up quite a bit.
And my neighbor admitted they were the best tomatoes ever!
So, yes, if you do not know you can't do something, you could have great
success!
Patrick
----- Original Message -----
From: j*@erols.com
To: i*@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2004 11:45
AM
Subject: Re: [iris-photos] Bleach
water
Patrick -- You remind me
that one of the nice things in life is the number of "impossible" things
accomplished because nobody told you beforehand that you couldn't. --
Griff
----- Original Message -----
From:
k*@ojai.net
To: i*@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2004 11:13
AM
Subject: Re: [iris-photos] Bleach
water
. . . . (One of the things I was told as fact is that
you cannot grow SDB's in the desert! Well, I have tried it and
found that to be wrong. Matter of fact, they rebloom here
too!)
Patrick
Orr
Phoenix,
AZ Zone 9
USA
