Gardeners, in general, are loath to reveal that sometimes plants don’t make it in their gardens. When one succumbs to either senescence, poor care, or disease, gardeners, myself included, are quick to remove the evidence. I suppose there is fear that others will label them as part of the group who sports a brown rather than a green thumb.
So here it is. Below is a Ceanothus ‘Cal Poly’ in full, glorious blue flowers last spring, followed by the remaining trunks that I am in the process of chopping down and hiding from the world. Actually, I may leave them to hang my tools and pots on.
Cal Poly ceanothus, April 20, 2008
alas, Cal Poly ceanothus, December 4, 2008
I was pretty broken up too.
oh no! i loved that plant…
I’m sorry for your loss. I was fortunate enough to catch a sight of the plant in bloom once. <BR/><BR/>Thanks for the wise words. You are right, there are many lessons in gardening and for me too, the possible and positive transformation through loss, death and decay has been one of them.<BR/><BR/>Death is often such a taboo topic in our culture – fortunately for us, our gardens force us to
A favorite author of mine writes frequently on death and gardening.<BR/><BR/>Here is a great piece by her that you and your readers might like:<BR/><BR/>http://biophile.co.za/gardening/arranging-garbage-a-buddhist-approach-to-compost
Thanks for the link. Yes I really think we should get over the great worries about dead plants and the like. Guess I am especially sensitive to this since I get a lot of calls from distraught homeowners with lifeless plants.
What happened to it?
Probably died of root fungus. I grew really fast soil was probably too moist, especially during summer.