Re: a conversation starter garden
- Subject: Re: a conversation starter garden
- From: j* z*
- Date: Fri, 2 Aug 2002 14:28:19 +1000
a woman who is an occasional visitor to my nursery is a tad like that, last
year her garden was in the Open Garden Scheme, & on a subsequent visit to me
said that "everyone just loved that plant with grey leaves & mauve flowers!"
She told people that she didn't have a clue what it was as she had lost the
label. I asked if she told them where she purchased it & the response was
"no, I didn't think of that". A wonderful, hardy erysimum lost a chance for
a merited wider circulation, apparently no one requested or sneaked cuttings
either....
----- Original Message -----
From: "Diane Whitehead" <voltaire@islandnet.com>
To: <medit-plants@ucdavis.edu>
Sent: Friday, August 02, 2002 2:12 PM
Subject: a conversation starter garden
> A few years ago one garden on a garden tour was completely "done"
> from back to front and edge to edge. No compost heap. No potting
> shed. No pots of seedlings. No plants in nursery pots waiting to be
> planted out. No undone corner to tease the imagination about what
> might be done next. I found it unsatisfying, as though the owner had
> phoned up and ordered x square metres of garden, and had it installed.
>
> Last year I revisited the same garden which appeared to have been
> totally redone. Still no process, no potential, no mystery - there
> it was, all finished.
>
> It did have a lively effect on the visitors, though. The owner had
> deliberately thrown away all the labels, as she was interested only
> in effect, and some of her plants were very unusual. Those of us who
> need to know names (all of us except the owner), immediately started
> talking to each other. As new visitors arrived on the property, they
> were hustled over to the unknown plants to see if they could identify
> them. None of the usual discreet murmurs between a couple of friends
> - everyone was talking to everyone.
>
> It might be a good idea for a "mixer" - a neighbourhood block party
> or a garden club get together. Maybe it would only work if the owner
> was locked in the kitchen, because there can't be many garden owners
> who refuse to learn the names of their plants.
>
> Diane Whitehead Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
>
>
