The Business of Nature
Writing by treason on Sunday, 23 of April , 2006 at 6:37 pm
Some say the best way to learn about life and death is to set up a fish tank. One day you go to feed your White Cloud Mountain Minnows and you can’t find them (What? Did they step out for a little air?), and then you see your albino channel cats - Manny, Moe, and Jack - at the bottom of the tank, looking somewhat rounder, and smiling big catfish smiles. And there’s your loach, Archibald, and it looks like he’s getting fuzzy again. Time to break out the iodine. Oh, dear. And who’s that floating upside down today?
Then there’s gardening. Yesterday was Earth Day and I decided to spend it by using as little energy as possible. I watched bees. And birds. Lizards. Squirrels. And rabbits. The usual suspects. On one side of the yard is an enormous rosemary; on the other, a Purple Robe locust. T and I stood under the locust and listened to the humming, watching the bees inside the exotic blossoms that - from a distance — look like clusters of grapes. Then we went to the rosemary to watch. They say there’s a shortage of bees. It’s possible: I think it’s because they’re all in my backyard.
The first hummingbird of the season showed up yesterday. He - or she - is the one who likes to sit at the top of the slope and balance on the highest point of the golden rain tree and watch all the activity. Once the chitalpas and hummingbird bushes open up, I’ll be able to play with the hummers again. They like to help me water the yard.
I’ve counted eighteen trees in the back now; if I remember correctly, at least ten others died. A lot of that was because of a gopher - others expired because of planting issues. It appears that larger trees, professionally planted, didn’t do as well as the younger ones that we put in the ground ourselves. More lessons learned.
I miss the nursery that used to be down the street. I would have gone there this year to buy more verbena, but I ended up somewhere else and bought geraniums instead. An interesting lesson, too, about life and death. We’ve been getting mail from another nursery asking us to consider them now that the other has closed. Smart marketing. And in today’s paper there was an article in the business section about all the new nurseries that have opened or expanded since the old one closed. Some of their employees took their experience and started their own businesses. Each new operation specializes in something different. This is an interesting development.
Meanwhile, the bees are still buzzing, the squirrels are on the wall battling over apples and carrots, the robins are demanding fresh water in the birdbath, and the hummers are waiting for more blossoms to open. Important stuff.
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Comment by Louise
Made Wednesday, 26 of April , 2006 at 9:19 am
My husband spotted that article listing all the new nurseries. After I had put all the papers in the recycling bin, he told me he wanted to save it, so of course, that meant digging through the bin until a success find. It’s interesting how the loss of a major player in the nursery business has spawned so much competition. My husband liked the idea of specialization for what he’s shopping for.
Comment by treason
Made Thursday, 27 of April , 2006 at 10:33 am
Another recycling Conservative out there, eh?
But it’s wonderful that so much "growth" has come from this. Imagine what would happen if we closed the public schools…yes, competition…it’s a good thing.
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