Am I . . . are we all . . . meant to ponder . . . blank space...?
I have enough of that when I open "New Post" and stare at the screen.
Let's ponder the shrub that blooms all by itself every year at the top of my driveway. I think this is the same plant that Jackie called, in a recent post, wild azalea, and she would know. I thought it was mountain laurel. Either way, it's always a striking surprise when it bursts all at once into flower. This year there are two instead of one . . . a happy find for me. It blooms for only a short time . . . this was a week ago. Now the blossoms have all gone to grayish little puffs of seed, and it's much less noticeable.
Despite the fact that I would have it bloom longer, it's doing what it's supposed to do. The only purpose of the blossoms, from the plant's point of view, is to make seeds to make more plants. When I think about that, it makes me wonder about the value of childless me and my life. The proper answer would be that humans are innately more valuable than plants. I doubt that.
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10 comments:
It's nice! I'm no expert, but to me it looks more like an azalea than mountain laurel. If so, you obviously don't have deer where you live. The critters chew my azalea to a nub every winter.
lots of childless people have incredible value, and vice versa.
so says another [happily] chidless person :)
Yup, what you have there is azalea, not laurel. How lucky you are! Is it really fragrant? If so, it is Early Azalea (Rhododendron prinophyllum). If it's just beautiful to look at but has little fragrance, it's Pinxter (R. periclymenoides). Both are native species and both are remarkably beautiful for wildflower shrubs. Enjoy!
I adopted two sons as infants. I am stepmother to six. They are all grown now. My value is independent of them.
So many of the spring bloomers are such a flash in the pan. I love my perennials, but, yes, I wish they would all bloom longer. Well, except for peonies. Don't even know why I keep those around.
I can't imagine how my life would have turned out had I not had my children , but I don't think I'd have thought it without point . Nor would my mother , nor her's before her .
And my maiden aunts and bachelor uncles would wonder quite what you were talking about , if they could find the time to stop and listen !
Not a mountain laurel -- I'm guessing Pinxter azalea.
Re childlessness -- most of the world's problems come down to overpopulation -- how nice if more people made their contribution in some other way than adding more children.
One of the things that I've learned is that you never know the influence you've had on others. Years later someone can tell you that their life changed because of something that you said or did. You don't have to be a parent to influence the future.
I think it has no fragrance. It's close enough to the driveway that if it were fragrant, I would smell it before I saw it. As it is, it's the PINK that grabs me, so it must be Pinxter.
Thanks, Jackie!
MY "PONDER" FOR THE DAY IS BLOGGER SUCKS. I think I've spent 5 minutes trying to leave a comment.sign in,wrong password Oh My.. and all I wanted to do was say Hi
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