A New Home
Once upon a time, in the land between the Mountain Laurel and the big peach tree lived two apple trees. Planted according to the plan, they did their best to thrive and bear fruit. But they were settlers on the wrong frontier and failed in their efforts. The bare ground they once occupied became home to the Morning Glory, a hardy plant that migrated there from the fence behind the Eve’s Necklace. It gleefully covered the ground and anything I put in its path. This year I decided to reward it with a more permanent home. I put up a trellis.
In actual fact it looks more like the corner of an old corral with something vaguely resembling a roof. It’s built from cedar posts we had lying around, supplemented by a few I scrounged from a neighbor down the road. It’s all held together with lag bolts and deck screws and should withstand the weight of a mighty plant as it creeps and crawls over the structure. We shall see what the summer brings. It gives me something to anticipate, which I believe is the point of gardening and little projects like this.
My youngest son, who lent a helping hand, has proposed putting in a rock floor, and that sounds like a splendid idea. He also has on old wrought iron bench that we will repurpose into a chair, which will go nicely in the area. Of course, the Morning Glory will care little for those touches, it should be content to climb and bloom and be in the sun, letting humans figure out what to do with the shade and the flowers. Luckily, that is an area where I excel. Give me blooms and a shady spot to watch them and I’m in something approaching heaven.
John W. Wilson is the author of The Long Goodbye: A Caregiver's Tale