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I've Been Thinking...
So there's been a bunch of things that have happened since I've had a good chunk of time to sit here and spill some of my thoughts onto these keys. First of all, I suppose I should start by claiming I have made it home from St. John in two pieces- apparently I left my "better judgement" on the island, because clearly, nobody would EVER leave such a fantastic place. Secondly, I got to go out to California for ths annual ASHS meeting, which was pretty solid. There were not quite so many fun topics that really caught my eyes, but it was another good experience. Who's up for Hawaii next year? Thirdly, and probably most importantly, school has started up again. Of course that means that I have no time, and that Horticulture Club again owns my social prowess.
Luckily for me, I have my handful of ways around that. Anyhow,I have this topic that's been plagueing me for the last few days. "Rocking the Garden"... not only the theme to this year's Mid-American Collegiate Horticulture Society (MACHS) annual conference, but one I'm considering as being my general theme for the year. Of course, this little gem is plenty punny, as well as practical. I suppose I should clarify; YES, rock gardens and the plants that can be grown in them are MEGA hot. Second, I'm on a kick to promote gardening by sporting your own as a badge of honor.
It would seem to me that this could run a couple of way. ONE: the jealousy factor. It's a classic... When the fictitious Mrs. Jones down the street notes that you not only have the first spring bulbs out in an array of fun forms, and continue to mock the neighbors with fleeting (or incredibly dramatic) glimpses of colourful bounty all the way into late October, people tend to notice. That would be called "Rocking your Garden"
TWO: striving for intrigue. I pull this from my roommate's awful sense of satisfaction. He's the person that you can't take out in public, and always says things for shock value. Well, not in the same way, shouldn't a garden have some intriguing things to impart? Depth of color, unique displays, quantity of taxa, even the simple having weird plants all can work as standalone agents to make your garden stand apart from that wretch Ms. Jones and her damned blue petunias and red salvia.
THREE: Don't forget to use the proper language while Rocking your Garden. While I may not be perfect, many people tend to look twice when I'm looking through a plant catalog, because I use some slightly more heartfelt and colorful language than many. Perhaps I can attribute this to my testosterone, but when you see something you like in a plant catalog, call it like you see's it. That is to say, if you see a nice plant, make sure that everyone hears you say "Oh DAMN! That is SEXY!". People tend to look when you're looking at the good stuff. I've done it many times, and it attracts a crowd. I was thumbing through Terra Nova Nurseries' Summer Supplement this year when I saw Coreopsis 'Cherry Lemonade'- I was quick to sit upright and hearken "Oh, now THAT is HOT!". Try it sometime... it's brings a strange satisfaction.
FOUR: Is it okay to be gloat? It might be... I got to thinking the other day... the Juniper Level Botanic Gardens have some 17,000 taxa on their property. Let's think about that. Let's make a fraction; seventeen THOUSAND taxa divided by the approximate total of known angiosperms... which is a cool 250,000 taxa, that makes for... 6.8% of all the angiosperms on the face of the planet. Second set of calculations... According to Wikipedia, the earth has a total surface area of 510,072,000 square kilometers, with 148,940,000 square kilometers of that being what we call the 7 continents and a variety of islands, etc. Our friends at JLBG have plants on 18.3 Acres.
Oh my... I just found the conversion. ONE Square Kilometer is equal to 247.136 acres. Oh Jeez....
So we have...
148,940,000KM2*247.1053acres/KM2=36803863382 Acres of land... and on just 18.3 (that's .0000000497% of the total land surface) acres, these fine people have managed to put 6.8% of angiosperms. Can anyone say "High Five"?! Anyhow, I think it's safe to say that you can gloat, sure... if you've got something to back it up.
I really think that example pretty much sums it up.
This is Winston, saying "Be Supreme", thinking "Own your landscape" and wishing you the best of luck while you Rock the Garden.