Permanence

 

Gum bully - Sideroxylon lanuginosa

Events in my life lately have caused me to think about permanence. We go through life thinking we know what the next day, the next month, the next year and the future beyond that will look like, but the reality is that we have no idea. It doesn't take much to upend our plans. Then, we find that each day that does go forward as we think it will is a blessing to be treasured. Having plans is a wonderful thing. Having them actually happen is much more so.  

We do this in our landscapes. We plant with the belief that our plants will grow and that our landscapes will develop according to plan. Gardeners are some of the world's greatest optimists and without that optimism most of us would quit.  Often, this optimism works in our favor, but occasionally it is heartbreaking - especially when a treasured addition that we look at as a lynchpin to our plantings fails. We find that, despite our best planting knowledge, forces outside our control take over and exert themselves in ways we did not plan for.

It took me years to locate this gum bully (Sideroxylon lanuginosa) for the small wooded area that I designed in the backyard. Bumelias are one of my favorite genera, both for their wildlife value and the fragrance of their blooms.  This one is very rarely offered and the one I had planted at my former residence was too large to move here when I came to my current home.  This specimen was especially well grown and large enough to make an impact almost from the start. In short, it was perfect and a find that I could hardly believe I had made.  At first, it put out new growth and I sat back believing in its future, but a few months later it inextricably "died".  Everything above ground withered and the trunk soon after dried and snapped off.  It was heartbreaking to me because I had no idea how I might replace it.

The upside of this story is that 3-4 months later several shoots emerged from the ground and it rose like the phoenix.  I'll never know what made the top die, but I remain thankful that it wasn't really dead. Sometimes, we get lucky and death is stopped in its tracks. At least for the present. What we planned for does not occur and that seems like a miracle. In a way, it is.. Today, this bumelia is more than 6 feet tall and its growing as well as I could ever expect. I keep a wary eye on it, however, because I've learned that it could unexpectedly die for sure in the future. I know that I have no control over that although I've put it in the "right" location and I've nurtured it to the best of my ability. 

We plan for the performance and the development of our landscapes, but we cannot control the future. The concept that things are "perennials" is a false one. Things we treasure will someday perish and leave us.  Treasure each day and season that they don't.  I revel in the diversity that my landscape gives me and I've learned to not take any of it for granted.

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