April First, Plant Friends

Sometimes plants seem more pleasant than people. Plants provide beauty, food, shade, and most always remain friends through thick and thin. Plants talk back occasionally, but not behind your back. Plants don't unfriend or shun you. They tell you right up front; they talk to you. They say, hey I need some water or I need pruning. Plants talk back like weeds which pop up saying pull me, or broken tree branches which say cut me up, or plants which fail to bloom saying fertilizer me. I didn't plant this crabapple tree but I am rewarded with it's friendship year after year. I only give it water yet this crabapple gives much more to me.

I am rewarded with the crabapples friendship flowers in Spring, drought tolerance in Summer, red orange Autumn colors, and tiny to medium sized crabapples in Winter. The crabapple is friends with birds too, providing food with it's apples. The only negative I can say about crabapples is not to plant them near a driveway or patio because of fruit drop. If you have the room I recommend planting crabapples. They are medium sized trees and grow a nice wide vase shape naturally. Crabapples are a plant friend to have.

In the foreground is a small red leafed crabapple I planted last year. It doubled in size but I pruned it way back, trying to encourage it to grow wider instead of taller. Often trees grown in containers in a nursery are crowded so they tend to grow straight up. With a good selective pruning for a couple of years I can correct this plants bad habit of growing straight up. Sometimes it takes a little effort to have a good plant friend but like all friends it's worth it in the long run. Sometimes people discard friends like they are easy to find; I have a hard time with that.

Here are the flowering pear trees I planted the first year here, three years ago. They grow fast and tall which was my intent since they are planted near the driveway. I am standing on the second floor deck and the trees are taller than that; probably 20 feet tall. When we planted them they were about 8 feet tall. The frost killed most of the blossoms this year, otherwise they would have been a mass of white blossoms. They turn a beautiful red orange Autumn color.

I wonder, should I pick friends because of how they grow like I do plants, tall or wide? Sometimes I feel like a weed, pulled and tossed aside. Even weeds are good, for instance plantain or dandelion. Those two weeds are edible and nutritious. I just can't discard friends like weeds and toss them aside. Thank goodness for plant friends. White rabbit to you all. Thanks for reading and for all your comments.