Compelling the Wintry Sun

Both plants and animals hunger

for sunshine this time of year -

if my baby cypress and I are

typical examples.

I’m seeking the sun myself whenever I can.

I’m also moving my newly acquired baby

cypress tree from window to window in an

effort to capture for it the best amount of

direct sun possible. It’s a challenge on days

when there is no direct sun, so that it must

be located in whatever filtered grayish light

trickling through a window or glass door.

♣ ~ The best I can provide it.

I was thrilled with my daugter's gift! Directions instructed to water it when received, which I did. The florist box included miniature ornaments and lights. Only the ornaments were added to it. In the middle of my cluttered coffee table, where I placed it to enjoy, are no power outlets. Throughout its Christmas stay there, it received admiration, no sun or water! Hal, my nephew, a student of horticulture, asked if I'd thought about giving it sun. I had not, beyond squeezing it in among other plants near some window, with scant light.

♣ ~ But thus began my odyssey of serious cypress-care!

In Your Memory

The flower

Was planted,

Seemed to flourish

But the sun and the roots

Both were missing.

One by one

The petals

Fell.

_____© Nellieanna H. Hay

Obviously in nature and the scheme of things, those evergreen trees must endure and survive many wintry days with little or no sun! So I can learn some patience and wisdom from this little green ‘person’! It’s a whole new experience for me; well, at least it’s new in that I’ve not yet snuffed out its life! My history with fussy plants is not too bright . . . no pun intended!

This is something of a confessional!

It’s not as though I’ve never noticed evergreen trees in winter, bravely surviving the limited sun, but I must confess that their endurance and courage didn't impact me personally.

♣ ~ They just did their thing . . .

and I did mine . . .

. . . No more!

With the arrival of this cypress, my maternal tree instincts were stirred. What an education for someone whose ‘green thumb’ long has been limited to plants who are not fussy about how much or how little sun and water they get.

When my non-fussy ones start to droop, I drown them in the sink so excess water filters through their soil and out the drain. I realize that people who do have green thumbs are cringing, but the plants perk up when happily returned to their places in such limited light as enters through windows with low direct light, as most of mine have. These hardy survivors have no complaints.

Now, though, I learn that the cypress not only requires its sun, 'direct', but also dislikes overly-much watering. I normally love fine-tuning. Here's my chance!

I must heed its plaintive outcries with greater sensitivity, even as I'm trying diligently to sun it and fathom its water preferences!

♣ ~ Becoming a reformed Brown Thumb!

Mother would be proud! ~ ♣

Brown Thumb

The garden I planted

Has rows that are slanted.

They look as though

Planted while drinking.

To have planned more,

Which seemed such a bore,

Now seems an advantage,

I'm thinking.

Those little plants grow

In a pitiful row.

Like unloved orphans

They stand there.

The weeds closing in

Where furrows had been.

Won't someone please

Lend a hand here?

______© Nellieanna H. Hay

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