I have been under the spell of Stephen King’s storytelling since I was eleven.  His stories do more than entertain; they envelope you.  In one of his books he talked about how he edits and polishes his stories once they are completed.

King said he would put the manuscript in a drawer for no less than six weeks before looking at it again.

Why?

Because when they are babies it is even harder to Kill Your Darlings.

Stephen King would have to edit, delete, snuff out parts of the baby he had just given birth to.  He would have to kill his darlings.  That is why he would wait six weeks.

Ah, but you and I brave gardener do not have that luxury.      Our darlings can’t wait another six weeks!

We must kill them now!    In their prime!     In the daylight!     

Not sure what your darlings are?  I am sure it is something different for everyone who creates.  For us brave gardeners they are those awesome annual containers and beds you created this spring and summer.  You see they must be ripped out right away, so the winter and fall annuals will get plenty of time to establish before frost rears its ugly head.  It is not fair that we must pull out some great looking plant material in order to create great looking high impact planters and beds every season, but that is the sad truth about maintaining annual beds and containers. Do You Have to Kill All Of Your Darlings?

 Or

 Can some of them just wait for frost to do the dirty work for you ?

 The way to know which path to take for sure?

 Just like the realtor said:  LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION!

I’m talking matters of the pot!  Lots of people are swaying on the fence today, trying desperately to make a decision about the container plants they have been nurturing all summer long.  Should they stay or should they go? 

If we are talking about a pot on your back porch that only you see, then you can follow your own heart,

 But…

 If we are talking about front door containers, mailbox containers or any other high traffic high impact area, filled with summer annuals you gotta follow my advice!

 You must be a hard hearted beech of a warrior! 

Rip those suckers out right away!!!!! 

Kill those Darlings!

You want those high impact pots to look terrific to Trick or Treaters and to provoke envy from your family and friends at Thanksgiving, right?

That is never going to happen overnight.  Your fall plants will have to make themselves comfortable and grow through that early awkward stage before they will ever look fabulous.  Trust me. 

Some plants will take you happily right up to frost.  Others are beginning a downward spiral that will only end in embarrassment.  Now is the time to take a good long hard look at those containers and make drastic, bold, life or death decisions.

I did it with this container and you can do it, too!

Be Fearless!

Part of my enthusiasm is pure randomness.  Sometimes I have to make up my own words to describe exactly what I mean when I talk about plants, gardens and even plant people.  I want to share two of my frequently used terms with you.

The first is “Catch”. 

Yep, I didn’t make that one up, but I did give it a new meaning.

 Let me use it in a sentence.  Go plant this flower in this pot and water it twice a day until it catches.  Or I’vebeen tending to this plant for two weeks and it still hasn’t caught.

Like fire all of the elements have to be in place for a plant to “catch” and it is a physical thing you can witness.  It is when a plant is no longer considered a weak transplant, because it has begun actively growing or at least acclimated to its home. 

The next one is even more abstract.

Plastic Eyes.

  Nope, not those googley things you buy at a craft store.  These are eyes belonging to actual people.  It refers to how they see things with their eyes. 

Plastic eyes are what develops when people are not exposed to nature often enough.  They begin to think that all plant material should look like either the front yards found on TV sitcoms, silk flowers, or the color beds outside the mall.  Their expectations have been raised so high that they can only find beauty in what looks artificial.  There is a cure!

Let me explain……

Have you ever seen a White Bud Tree?  It has delightful light green leaves in front of the most gorgeous black fruit on its branches.  The fruit looks like a dried butterbean pod that is jet black.  It makes a terrific contrast between the light bark and pale leaf.  The pod just hangs out there, in between the bark and leaves for the entire summer.  It is the White Bud’s best feature after its spring blooms.  I suggested one to a man the other day, and he said it was a lovely tree, but he would get tired of having to pick all of the black trash off of it all the time.   I told him he should not have this tree at all, and that the fruit was an attribute.  I told him exactly why I thought it was so beautiful and that it should be saved for someone who appreciated it.  This really through him for a loop.  I showed him Crape Myrtles, Japanese Magnolias, and Maples.  He said “You haven’t shown me anything that any of my neighbors don’t already have.  Can we look at that black fruit one again?” He came back to the same tree, but looked at it from a different perspective.  As I rung up his purchase he took a phone call.  I could hear him say “I got the prettiest little tree you have ever seen!  It does the coolest thing ever!  It grows black fruit!   No, I had never seen one do that either!  No, you can’t eat it.  No, that’s not right.  Just come over to the house this evening.  It will be the coolest thing you have ever seen!”  Plastic eyes can be melted; but only by the beauty of nature. 

Jeff Foxworthy made millions on his you might be a redneck observations.  I have been working on some observations about plant people myself.  I call myself a plant enthusiast.  My husband says I should star in season one of ‘Plant Hoarders’.  My mom calls it schizophrenic gardening. Maybe you can relate.      

Have you ever…

• Bought plants on a payment plan
• Been excited to receive mulch as an anniversary gift
• Brought home “pinches” of plants you were never invited to pinch
• Carried a shovel in the trunk of your car and a vase for cuttings in your glove box at all times
•  Stopped at a complete stranger’s house because you saw they were growing a plant you wanted
• Visited a cemetery to check out the plants that were surviving there
• Tried to root anything bought from a grocery store

 I am guilty of all of this and more.  I am going to keep working on this list, and hopefully you will help me add to it.  I am going to spend time on here talking about plants I love, plants I wish I could grow and crazy things that have happened in my back yard, and hopefully answering some questions.  I hope you will come back and see me, because if you answered yes to even one we have lots to talk about!