Re: philosophical question
I am trying to create a self-reliant garden at our village house in central Crete. I'm an absentee gardener; our family spends only the two hottest months of the year there, which is a severe limitation to the scope of my gardening endeavors. Exclusive of summers, the garden relies on the occasional watering by a friendly neighbor, and little else. Meanwhile, I spend the fall and winter observing native plants' behavior (when they leaf, flower, drop seed,) and do a lot of reading about them. I try to get to know each plant. I especially like to rescue plants from the bulldozers which are a constant threat to the beautiful maquis of the Mount Pentelis area. I pot
up these little survivors in clay pots to spend their wet season on my balcony. My little collection joins ranks with the other-more conventionally acquired plants when they make the ship voyage to Crete in summer. They have only about 120 square meters of very stony, limey earth to call home, but they don't seem to mind. Most thrive, the weak go to plant heaven. In other words, my interest is part aesthetics, part "save the world" and a little bit of creating my own universe. Thanks for asking! Karen
