Plant Life Cycles

Every once in awhile I notice that a plant that was previously doing well has  disappeared or is a shadow of its former self.  This happened to a ‘bleeding heart’ (Lamprocapnos) this year.  In the last few years it has been a star of my spring garden, but this year it was about half its former size and had only a few blooms.  I had to take stock of what may have changed in the plant’s environment.

I noticed that a siberian iris had grown around the bleeding heart and probably hogged the nutrients and space it needed to thrive. Since ‘bleeding heart’ goes dormant and all but disappears in summer, the iris was free to take over the space without my noticing.  Instead of trying to move the bleeding heart I chose to leave it where it was to battle it out with the iris and plant a new one elsewhere that I hope will take over star billing next spring.

 

Many times I’ve planted something with great hopes, taking into account what kind of light it needs and trying to give it the best start I can, only to have the plant languish, maybe hang on for a year never thriving and finally die a quiet death. All kinds of things can explain these mysterious “failure-to-thrive” deaths, such as unsuitable soil (too acid or alcaline); unsuitable light conditions; not enough drainage; not enough water; not enough nutrients in the soil; parasites; diseases; and the list continues. I used to get quite upset, but now I chalk it up to experience and move on.  If I try planting something a couple of times and it doesn’t work, I assume it doesn’t like it in my garden and try not to take it personally.  If I know that a plant definitely prefers alkaline or acid soil I will amend the area to give it a better chance.   I’ve never tested the soil’s acidity so the amendments might not be enough sometimes but it’s a method that works often enough to keep me using it!

Although one has to take plant deaths philosophically, it can be somewhat saddening and frustrating.  It’s hard if you feel as though you’ve done everything right and still the plant dies.  Unfortunately, you don’t have control over all the variables and sometimes things just die, it’s their time.  Now is the time to enjoy the plants that are thriving and dream of new ones to try out.

Here’s a wonderful rendition of Bernstein’s “Glitter and be Gay” by Kristin Chenoweth.  A wonderful combination of bitter and funny, it seemed appropriate!

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