As everyone knows, the internet has spirits or phantoms inside your computer that track every search and move you make with your keyboard. In fact, I believe they are in your room listening to every one of your words and thoughts. I have mentioned the need of a new toilet seat, only to see a related advertisement pop up on my screen.
Any desires you might have, the internet phantoms encourage these urges. The phantoms know my love of plants, and so every time I open up an internet site, there are articles for me on gardening and plants.
So, as with any addiction, I am starting to wonder if it is healthy to enjoy plants as much as my wife and I do. This addiction came to light this winter when we were camping in Arizona. Of course, we had to visit botanical gardens and garden centers to satisfy our addiction. The issue came to light when we purchased plants and made a small garden next to our travel trailer. We realized that the plants wouldn’t survive Michigan’s winters, but we had to indulge our shared CHAD illness (Compulsive Horticulture Acquisition Disorder).
Article continues below this ad
Mother’s Day and spring lead many of us to garden centers, plant nurseries and the “green” area of the box stores. We are compulsively purchasing plants with no idea where we are going to plant them. During this time of year, the grocery stores know our weakness, CHAD illness, and addiction, so they put up exhibits of plants leading into their stores. A gardener has to endure temptations and compulsions even when they purchase a loaf of bread.
The question that comes to a gardener’s mind when purchasing or deciding to purchase another plant is: “Is this a luxury or is it a necessity?” Any plant lover will have only one answer: “Of course, it is a necessity!”
To provide evidence that plants are not just an impulse purchase and should not be considered only a luxury, I have four categories in which plants are beneficial to the well-being of ourselves and our society. (In fact, many cultures and countries see the importance of plant purchases more than we do in America and give their citizens tax credits for buying plants.)
Of course, everyone who looks at plants can see the beauty that they give to our lives; this is called the aesthetics of the plant. Other vital functions of plants are their importance in the ecology of our planet, in the economics of our society, as well as the healing and well-being of mind, soul and body.
Article continues below this ad
I would like to start the discussion with the aesthetics of plants. This important aspect is seen most noticeably in the spring when the fever for purchase is high and the spring plants are in bloom. Unfortunately, this leads to having our landscapes filled with plants that only bloom in the spring. We love our spring flowering plants. But plants provide more aesthetic importance than what is seen by their showy flowers.
Being in Arizona this past winter, I feel like I missed a part of my life: winter. The winter temperature can bite you in the rear, but the beauty of the snow-laden branches warms my heart. We did get back to see our spring bulbs and ephemerals blooming as well as the trees and shrubs budding out.
We now look forward to the many textures, forms and sizes of foliage on the plants during the summer. In the fall, the plants will be full of colorful fruit and foliage. Seeing the many changes in plants and how they indicate the seasons brings much anticipation and joy to our lives.
I was told that plants also indicate the seasons in the desert of Arizona, but not knowing the weather patterns and being unfamiliar with the plants’ life progressions, I had to believe the local plant lovers, whom we found at the garden centers and botanical gardens. In fact, we spent two hours in just one of these gardens learning about the flora.
Article continues below this ad
Have you ever noticed how land developers, city officials and communities use names to create a sense of beauty and security when they name locations and streets? In the United States, there are 6,946 Oak Streets, 6,170 Pine Streets and 6,103 Maple Streets according to research in 2015. I would guess that many of these streets have since had many of their namesake trees cut down, but still we imagine the beauty of these trees when we see or hear the name. Just hearing a tree’s name gives us a sense of security and beauty.
Here in Midland, we have an elementary school called Chestnut Hill that opened in 1959. Have you driven around Midland County lately? We don’t have any hills to get excited about. There must have been a snow drift when they named the school. Because of the chestnut blight, the chestnut trees were wiped out back in the early 1900s. There are no chestnut trees in the school yard. Yet the name still gives the school a sense of beauty.
Flowers are the main attraction and the show stopper when we think of the beauty of roses, forsythias, peonies, irises, and skunk cabbage. But plants have other beautiful aspects, like what my friends used to say about me when they were setting me up on a blind date: “He is beautiful in other ways.”
Fall is the time when our native trees show their true foliage colors of red, burgundy, yellow and orange. In the summer, the many variations and hues of green give us a refreshing feeling.
Article continues below this ad
It seems like every landscape has a white birch planted in the middle of the front yard. These trees are not planted for their beautiful flowers, but for their handsome bark. Take time to look at the beauty of the bark of many of our landscape trees.
There is nothing better that sipping lemonade under the shade of a large, beautiful tree. The shade of a tree is much more comfortable than the overhang of your roof.
As usual, I have gotten carried away on my opinion when it comes to the importance of horticulture. I am only allowed to ramble for so many words. I plan on adding to this thought next week by discussing ecology, economics and health benefits of being addicted to plants.
Article continues below this ad
Chuck Martin was a senior horticulturist at Dow Gardens for 39 years and is writing a weekly column about gardening. If you have a question or suggestion for a future article, email it to him at riverhaven772@gmail.com.