In A Wild Garden

There is no place in the wild cultivated gardens safe from competition. 

Even the fancy discard lilies jostle and mingle with the Lush. Editing is the only salvation and that is not a one hundred percent given. I do what I can.

Nature's imperative is a singular effort to fill the space.

My efforts are largely geared towards selecting the ingredients being used with much less input on exactly where they get used. I have watched things I planted get up and move to a different location more to their liking.

This is what you see when you drive by. How many people see a garden I wonder?

Step one in a new ingredient is getting a plant to blooming size. Step two is waiting to see if it will settle in and naturalize.

I grew a tray of Verbena hastata from seed. Verbena bonariensis wasn't making the cut. They were planted out after reaching small plant size. Many were immediately attacked by some leaf sucking bug. The leaves were skeletonized and curled up in distress. They are still alive. I hope the bug moves on.

It is a wonder that in an ocean of Lush, widely scattered, newly planted verbena were targeted for being sucked. This one has escaped so far.

Any concerns I ever had about my garden looking out of place in the wilderness can be put to rest. The Lush is more powerful than me.

When you enter an awareness comes that something different is going on. A gardener has been manipulating the ingredients. I do have an impact.