Friday, December 30, 2011

40, and still growing strong

Would you believe that this plant is over 40 years old?
My husband bought it for me in our first year of marriage
when we lived in a tiny furnished apartment....ah those were the good old days
We had a tiny little room in the back...that was always bathed in sunlight
and I loved plants...so quickly it became our plant room....oh the luxury of youth
I recall with sweetness the sweet potato that I stuck into a vase of water....and it grew all around the room
our Landlady was amazed......she couldn't grow or cook a thing
Me...green thumb in my DNA
I lugged those plants around to 5 houses throughout the years
and this is the only one left.....I had a mother in law tongue that I finished off two years ago....leaving her outside too long....oh woe
But, this asparagus fern is well and growing.....my daughters fight over who will get it
Hey, where do you think I'm going?
Once while visiting my son in Laguna Beach, California....I saw that they grew there abundantly
...in his neighborhood...thorns and all.....lovely seeing them growing that way
I often feel sad for plants imprisoned in pots....oh, I know I am a bit of a ditz this way
and cut flowers bother me too...once wrote a whole essay about that
anyway......I love this fern.....this lifelong companion..this reminder of the man who gave it to me
and the 41 years...today...that we enjoy

6 comments:

  1. Hey! Happy Anniversary! An asparagus fern - wow - I think they are hard to grow. You're good! Course I knew that.

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  2. Well isn't it amazing that what you cherish there is almost a weed here in subtropical Australia. I had to get rid of a thriving pot whose trailing habit and bright red berries I especially loved. But the birds began spreading the seeds all around my garden. And once asparagus takes hold amongst other bushes, it's difficult to eliminate. So in its tenaciousness, it probably is a good signifier of a long marriage. Happy anniversary to you both.

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  3. 31 years ago I fell in love with a fern in the yard of my very first house. I have no way of knowing how old it was when I found it, but it has moved with me along the way and is with me still, bundled up in a pot outside this apartment. I loved the story of your dear plant.

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  4. amazing!
    what stories that fern holds!
    My house is covered in live plants
    too
    but none that I've kept
    for that long!
    Well done, you....green thumb
    hall of fame:)
    Hey, bright beautiful beginnings
    to you,
    Jen

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  5. Suz,
    Happy Anniversary to you both and many more to come.
    You must really have a green thumb, I don't have much luck with ferns though I do have a Christmas cactus which was one half my Grandmothers and the other half was her Mothers planted together. Together it's really old and one half blooms at Christmas the other half at Easter.

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