3 years from today
TodaySomeone once said if you need a friend, get a dog. Not in my book. All I have to do is show up in the garden with my trowel and dirty hands and I attract fellow gardeners or even strangers. On a lucky day, I get dog walkers, joggers, bikers, neighbors waiting for the bus, the postman, the paper boy and some curious Georges. A few of them become my friends.
Although, I’m feeling a little less well-liked these days since my good friend Bobby from Victorville stood me up this week. Sob, sob. Imagine, he said he’d see me when he comes to NY in May and what do I get on Monday but a hurried, nervous call from him while he's on his way to Newark Airport heading back to California (without showing his goofy face to me!). A thousand excuses, nice job Bob, but you’re still on my list – the blacklist! I would still choose you for a friend over a dog. Good boy. Now sit!
Last year, my neighbor and friend Joe, an avid gardener, gave me a small plant which he started growing from a vine he cut from a wisteria that’s climbing on a tree by the ravine near his house. You’re giving me a wisteria plant? That was akin to summoning a mouse to a cheese factory. I won’t say no to that. The only problem was that it was too late then to transplant the little vine and had to wait until this Spring. But I have a plan.
First off I had to find a good place for it to grow, then mark it. Wisteria grows rapidly and can be intrusive. Once it grows you can’t get rid of it, just like bamboo. It can twist and turn, pull away your roof, deck or fence and before you know it you have your roof, or even your neighbor's, on Mars or the moon but with gazillions of purple blossoms on it. On a good starry night that could be a pretty sight.
As a matter of fact the largest living and blooming wisteria in the world is more than an acre in size, over 100 years old and is in Sierra Madre, California. But I’m not looking to grow my plant to reach such a mammoth size.
Although, I’m feeling a little less well-liked these days since my good friend Bobby from Victorville stood me up this week. Sob, sob. Imagine, he said he’d see me when he comes to NY in May and what do I get on Monday but a hurried, nervous call from him while he's on his way to Newark Airport heading back to California (without showing his goofy face to me!). A thousand excuses, nice job Bob, but you’re still on my list – the blacklist! I would still choose you for a friend over a dog. Good boy. Now sit!
Last year, my neighbor and friend Joe, an avid gardener, gave me a small plant which he started growing from a vine he cut from a wisteria that’s climbing on a tree by the ravine near his house. You’re giving me a wisteria plant? That was akin to summoning a mouse to a cheese factory. I won’t say no to that. The only problem was that it was too late then to transplant the little vine and had to wait until this Spring. But I have a plan.
First off I had to find a good place for it to grow, then mark it. Wisteria grows rapidly and can be intrusive. Once it grows you can’t get rid of it, just like bamboo. It can twist and turn, pull away your roof, deck or fence and before you know it you have your roof, or even your neighbor's, on Mars or the moon but with gazillions of purple blossoms on it. On a good starry night that could be a pretty sight.
As a matter of fact the largest living and blooming wisteria in the world is more than an acre in size, over 100 years old and is in Sierra Madre, California. But I’m not looking to grow my plant to reach such a mammoth size.
This morning I found a perfect spot for it – I dug a hole next to a big tree to serve as its host. The challenge is how to train this little vine to climb the tree and make that its home, but that’ll come in time. It’ll take about three years for it to bloom for the first time, but let’s get past the growing part first. Let's also hope that this plant will be safe from those squirrels and our nemesis, the green-fingered plant pilferer Yosef . Maybe I should install a webcam next to my precious wisteria, you never know when these animals will pull their antics. I can always chase one of them away, but the other - I'll definitely put him behind bars! Riker's Island or the Bronx Zoo, I don't care.
Three years from now, I hope to see a ceiling of purple wisteria blossoms, as shown in picture #1, near the children's playground. That should make all my friends happy. Luis, our handyman, said he'd be gone and retired by then but just the same, "You may still come and visit me and my wisteria, my dear friend."
Whichever, wistaria, wisteria....
