
Funny how our minds work. Just a photo of a hosta plant in another blog got me thinking. Yikes!
Here goes:
When I was a kid, we were very fortunate to have a family cottage on a lake. Along the side of the cottage was a patch of hosta plants. They grew every year even when mowed down to make a better path. I thought that they were homely, good for nothing, weeds. I’d trip over them while playing twilight games of hide-n-seek. But…there they grew with a tenacity that I could not appreciate in childhood.
I now have my own piece of outdoor heaven in a wooded area. There were barren, shady spots where nothing would grow. I discovered hostas in a new light. Their name even “put me off”. I had already decided, years ago, that I did not like hostas. At the local greenhouse, there was a larger variety of them than I had ever realized.
The happy ending is a lovely, much appreciated shady garden. Hosta does not mean the same to me now, although I can “drum up” a shudder, still, when reminiscing.
If I were to return to life as a plant, I think I would like to be a hosta. Rather plain…shade loving… and tenacious.
I felt similar about petunias and swore I’d never grow them. Lo and behold, this year I needed a simple colorful annual and you guessed it I planted petunias…mainly because the hummingbirds and butterflies like them!
I too was unsure about petunias until I realized that they do better when you neglect them (except for pinching off dead blossoms). In the garden, neglecting is my middle name. 🙂 Aren’t their colors dandy?
My plant that fits the theme is Nasturtiums
Yes, Nasturtiums fit the unwanted category in my world, still. Maybe you could change that and convince me about their significance in your garden?
Ah, isn’t it so with many things in life … the person, the book, the place … that we once distained but suddenly realize has value.
Re plants: I adore them all. Homely or beautiful. Like people, they seem each to have a place and a job to do.
Yes, you are very wise and this post seems to recommend revisiting our opinions often. 🙂