Garden

Open letters to plants

Dear extremely lazy tomato plant, I hope you realize that you had all summer to produce offspring, and why you decided to wait until the end of September to make a tomato is beyond my understanding. Was it that the climbing squash vine was cramping your style? As you can see, waiting until the cool weather was a very poor decision. No, I will not be eating your nasty rotten fruit, nor will I be saving your seeds.

Dear bi-color dahlia, you are gorgeous dear. Do I dig up your tubers after you die back? I want to keep you around. Thanks gracing my garden. Plants from the Lowes clearance rack absolutely are worth $1.

Dear purple basil plant I purchased at Trader Joe’s,  look at you! You made babies! So incredibly cute. It’s actually surprising given that you nearly died when I planted you.

Dear striped Roma, how I wish we were more compatible! You are so determined, so consistent, and yet your texture is so unappealing to me. It’s not you, it’s me. Maybe I should have tried you on a pizza.

Dear lemon verbena, you smell gooooood.

Dear garlic chives, because of you, my baby now has stinky breath. Sorry I never use you in the kitchen. I know you feel undervalued. Thanks for coming back every spring.

Dear Texas tarragon, welcome to our garden. I know you may be missing your home in Tennessee, but you will get over it – the verbena did. Do you have any preferences on how I should use you? You smell a little odd to me.

Dear mum, thanks for being a faithful friend. You’ve now been in my garden a full year and this is the third time you have bloomed. I feel like I should make you a nice compost cake to celebrate.

Love always,
Paige

2 Comments

  • Diana

    Love your letters.

    But green tomatoes are a treasure — fried green tomatoes, green tomato relish, green tomato chutney . . . . And thank goodness, because for about the past 5 years it seems like I get more green tomatoes in October and Nov after the "second wind" of the garden before the first frost, than I get red tomatoes all summer — all those above 90's in the day and above 75 at night seriously impedes tomatoes in the summer.

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