Until last weekend I had no idea that my life was missing something so fundamental. Other people had cats or canaries, Guinea pigs or ant farms. A mouse in the skirting board. Dandelions on the lawn or mushrooms in the cellar… But Gloria and I soldiered on without any of these things.
And then I went down to Amsterdam on Saturday to have lunch and a wander round with YD. We went to Hortus, the Botanic Gardens, and mooned over endless beautiful ferns and palm trees of all shapes and sizes. We're not gardeners; between us we have five plants, one of which is the balding, albino Basil in my kitchen. But we loitered by the purple Velvet plants and the little signs inviting us to stroke them, and we crushed mint and verbena leaves. We stabbed ourselves with an armoury of needle sharp cactii and admired our reflections in lily pad filled ponds. We were enchanted by the Butterfly house and peered through the windows of the Caterpillar House ( No Entry, presumably in case one inadvertently treads on a few). And just as we were beginning to feel hungry and reckoned we'd seen our moneysworth of greenery, I saw what my balcony's been missing , an Elephant's Foot Palm, otherwise known as a Ponytail Palm.
I know that Gloria would love one as would the pansy that grew after I'd planted some paprika seeds and the pink daisy-things that seem to be growing horizontally next door …
And then I went down to Amsterdam on Saturday to have lunch and a wander round with YD. We went to Hortus, the Botanic Gardens, and mooned over endless beautiful ferns and palm trees of all shapes and sizes. We're not gardeners; between us we have five plants, one of which is the balding, albino Basil in my kitchen. But we loitered by the purple Velvet plants and the little signs inviting us to stroke them, and we crushed mint and verbena leaves. We stabbed ourselves with an armoury of needle sharp cactii and admired our reflections in lily pad filled ponds. We were enchanted by the Butterfly house and peered through the windows of the Caterpillar House ( No Entry, presumably in case one inadvertently treads on a few). And just as we were beginning to feel hungry and reckoned we'd seen our moneysworth of greenery, I saw what my balcony's been missing , an Elephant's Foot Palm, otherwise known as a Ponytail Palm.
I know that Gloria would love one as would the pansy that grew after I'd planted some paprika seeds and the pink daisy-things that seem to be growing horizontally next door …
I think I'm getting the hang of gardening …….
4 comments:
That IS a handsome plant! I like the kind that thrive on neglect as my son assured me regarding the orchids he left in my care when he moved out west. "No worries mum, I only left the ones that thrive on neglect!" And they have. Good luck with your new "pet!"
They are very cool looking plants indeed! I hope it thrives on your balcony!
A woman after my own heart although I don't think I've ever frightened a plant into trying to escape. Mine just give up and die.
That's interesting: if you omit the space between to and escape you get toescape, which sounds like an exciting new art form. Or possibly old if the Christmas cards painted by feet that I am sent with a begging letter every year are anything to go by.
Awesome sauce! When I first moved to Nashville, back in the 1980s, my first job was as a door-to-door exotic plant salesperson. We sold ponytail palms (and other plants) out of a van. They're great-looking, aye?
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