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Penny Carnathan
Penny’s a Nurture And Hold (NAH): Nah, I won’t pull that out yet, it’s still got a green shoot. She likes dragonflies, lady bugs and new stuff only after weeding, pruning and fertilizing.
Kim Franke-Folstad
Kim’s a Want It Now (WIN): Everything pretty, everything now. She will resort to full-spectrum insecticides in desperate situations, and believes it’s her duty and right to buy new plants every weekend.
Both advocate Plant Choice (SOMEthing besides crotons. Please!), lots of color and low maintenance. We don’t agree on everything, but we’re smart enough to learn from each other - and from you.
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Gonna Take A Sentimental Journey
Posted Apr 17, 2009 by Loren Omoto
Updated Apr 17, 2009 at 04:19 PM
If I were the type person who got misty-eyed at Publix commercials, I might brush away a tear or two looking at all the beauty I enjoy thanks to the kindness of others. It’s all looking pretty cheerful this week, thanks to the hallelujah rain, so it’s a good time for portraits.
Friend Bonnie Dyson potted up some of the pink salvia running wild in her Brandon yard when I moaned about how hard it was to find at retailers. In return, I brought her one of my potted angel’s trumpet cuttings, which she promptly killed.
The angel’s trumpets, meanwhile, were a gift from Janice Vogt in Seminole Heights. I know I’ve showed off this one before, but my gosh, can you see why I’m proud? I just hope he’ll grow into his blooms, which I thought were yellow but are actually more like peach sherbet.
When I told Kim a couple weeks ago that I was looking for a “noodly” plant to go in the metal Chinese take-out container my daughter made in welding class (don’t ask), she promptly handed over her firesticks. “Will this work?” she asked. Perfectly! And how very nice of her. (She was having a very good day—I left her house with the plant, her rolling cooler and a bottle of wine.)
Janna Begole loaded me up with Jacob’s ladder cuttings at Greenfest, with strict admonishments not to give up on them - “They may take awhile but they’ll root.” I think Tuesday’s rain was just the jump-start they needed. This one has sprouted leaf!
Ditto for the black-eyed Susan vine from Susan Gillespie. It’s already climbing the trellis and I just planted it last weekend!
The white pentas are from Mary and Ernest Seder, the mother and son who put vases of roses out for passersby at their Highlands Avenue home. I visited recently to check the newest (stunning) crop, and before I could finish admiring the white pentas in the garden, I had a pot in my backseat. (Ernest had dug some up to make room for more roses and had them in pots to await new homes.)
It was Carole Shepherd of Plant City, though, who taught me to fish—so to speak. I have never had luck growing pentas from cuttings, and Carole gave me a lesson. It took, as did these ready-to-bloom crimson pentas from cuttings. My first!
Just one more!
A couple years ago, my sister Peggy stumbled on a nursery sale and brought me what our family calls “a sussy”—a surprise for no reason but to be nice. I’d never had a desert rose, and I’ll never be without one again. I love it.
When I think about it, I realize many of my plants were gifts; some from people who’ve since passed away. All that kindness and caring adds another dimension to a garden. Who can ever feel lonely surrounded by so many friends and family?
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Reader Comments
Posted by (Janice Vogt) on April 17, 2009
What a great way to start the weekend checking out what Penny wrote in The Dirt.Thank you for sharing your photos and stories with us, I know everyone enjoys them. Janice
Posted by (Penny Carnathan) on April 18, 2009
Ah, Janice, you are just a root ball of love!
It really is so nice, as I putter around dead-heading, weeding, and watering, to think of each person I have to thank for this plant and that. I have so many more that I didn’t include in this post. I think of every person, living and dead, when I tend “their” plant.
Posted by (Susan) on April 19, 2009
What a fun story Penny. You’ve been so good about getting everything in the ground and nurtured to life. Every sprout and every story really is a big part of what makes gardening this way interesting. I am so glad to be a small part of that.
BTW——aren’t those “firesticks” really called a pencil cactus? They look awesome in your daughter’s clever pot.
Posted by (Penny Carnathan) on April 19, 2009
Right you are, Susan. You are so good with the plant names. ... That’s not also your bad hair plant, is it?
Everything’s in the ground because if I let stuff languish too long, it ends up dying. And then I have the whole guilt thing: “So sorry. I killed your kind gift.”
I’m thrilled with how well my Susan Gillespie vine is doing, by the way!
Posted by (Susan) on April 19, 2009
No that’s not my bad hair day plant but it looks really similar doesn’t it?
Yeah that SG vine is quite prolific. I should take a pic of the blue sky vine you gave me when I get a chance. It’s crawling up a trellis and happy as can be. The rest are still in their pots waiting to get closer to rainy season. I guess I’m lazy about the hand watering and don’t want to get busted by the water police. Ha!
Posted by (Penny Carnathan) on April 19, 2009
My blue sky has totally recovered the side of the shed. Amazing! It should start flowering again soon—I’m looking forward to that!
When you get a chance to take a pic, I’d love to see how yours is doing.
Posted by (Janna Begole) on April 20, 2009
This was a great story! Thanks, Penny. I have experimented this year more than ever with seeds and cuttings. You are right, it really brings so much more into gardening when you see each plant that was given to you by a friend or started from seeds shared by others. I love the take-out container that your daughter made and the perfect plant Kim gave you to fill it! Your garden is coming along quite nicely and I always look forward to your photos. Keep up the good dirt!
Posted by (Penny Carnathan) on April 20, 2009
Thank you, Janna! I can’t believe I didn’t whip out my camera and get some blog art of all your strapping grown-from-seed beauties last weekend. I was just so flat-out amazed at how fast all your sunflowers, zinnias, cosmos, and the rest have grown, I wasn’t thinking clearly.
On daughter’s take-out box: I’m getting pretty good at finding uses for art projects. I love Kim’s noodles!