My own personal jungle

One spring dad asked Angie and I what our favorite flowers were; he thought it would be fun to have our favorites in the yard. I can’t remember what Angie requested, but hers got planted that summer; mine didn’t. I had actually thought about how neat it would be to plant my favorite flower; I even knew where I wanted to plant it - Honeysuckle, in the south east corner of our little lot. The breeze would come from that direction and the sweet, heady smell would drift all across the yard. To look at dad’s face, you’d think I would have just suggested Canadian thistle. “Well, sis, it will take over the yard…” I made several other suggestions, each one more apt to take over the yard than the next.

Now, to be fair, my honeysuckle did get planted. It didn’t do as well as one might have hoped, but I had it for a brief time. Evidently I’m drawn toward the dictators of the plant world. Dad has educated me on some I’ve considered. He has told me how they have been know to get started on the side of a house and work themselves under roofs, actually lifting tiles out of place. In their bid for dominance, they stomp over shyer plants while on their march across the yard. If you are gone for vacation, on your return you will find that they’ve moved inside, drank all your sodas, and hijacked the TV so that it is stuck on the gardening channel.

Honeysuckle, Euonymus, Wisteria, bamboo…they are all aggressive types, and naturally, I really like them. I think I like the idea of something that will take over and make its own space with little help from me; giant mounds and messes of bright and fragrant plants. I am also drawn to the bizarre – black tomatoes, white pumpkins, and purple cauliflower. (I hate cauliflower, but c’mon! It’s PURPLE!!! Of course, they also have purple potatoes, and if you don’t believe me, check out page 64 of Jung’s 2008 spring seed catalog!) I have all kinds of stuff I would want in my garden simply because you wouldn’t see it anywhere else. Cool ideas, absolutely no space…*sigh*