Investing And Risk – When The Weather Is The Wildcard

Right, I’m a bit grouchy!

The weather here is so utterly bonkers.  I have a tan, not because it was super-hot, but because we had full sunshine (albeit with a cold breeze) for over a week. And, I was out in it from early to late taking advantage of the good weather to work in the garden.  This is a good thing.  Then, we had rain on the forecast for a day and a night, and that was okay too.  The temps weren’t supposed to plummet that badly.  So, I decided to leave the seedlings outside.  They’d been outside for nearly a week and the low temps of each day were supposed to remain steady.  I thought it would be okay to leave them outside.

That was a bit of a mistake.

Not only did we have rain, but we also had wind and snow.  My poor seedlings – I really didn’t want to face the spectacle today. 

Wind dries out plants.  It sucks up the moisture on the leaves of the plant as well as that which is near or at the top of the soil.  If the soil is also dry this places the plant at a real disadvantage as they might not be able to replace the moisture lost from their leaves fast enough to stay alive.  So, in windy weather (even if it’s overcast and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of sun) it’s really important to water plants.  I knew the seedlings wouldn’t be at danger of not having enough moisture, but the wind burn on the leaves really made my heart sink.

Even very fragile looking plants can surprise you with their resilience though.  Even if you step on some plants, they’ll bounce back.  I did that last week to some day lilies that were pushing up from a flower bed I’d started to lay out last summer.  I panicked for a few seconds before telling myself that it was just one step, I hadn’t trampled on the young plant shooting up from the bulb and that just maybe it might recover in a few days.  (That was about a week ago and I haven’t had the nerve to go and look at the poor thing yet).  But, here I am again placing my hopes on the resilience of plants.  I suppose you could say I’m placing my trust in them and their growing power.

Needless to say, I’ve scooped up these seedlings and placed them in the garden shed for the moment.  The Mirabilis and Asters got the worst of it. 

The Lupins were fine.  Calendulas are pretty hardy and I even sowed some directly outside and they’re growing well, so they’re okay.

What a setback though, this weather!  I get a bit emotional with the plants sometimes.  A couple of years ago I had an orchid that I had carefully looked after for a year and it was budding.  The budding process took a couple of months though, and during this time I decided to try to secure the stem a bit and turn the plant.  A full stem of flower buds fell off.  I felt like crying.  I was grouchy for a good couple of days.  I only told a handful of people, not many understood. 

Just like taking care of a precious plant that only flowers one or two times a year, sowing any type of plant from seed involves emotional investment.  It takes commitment and forward thinking to take care of just patches of soil while waiting for seeds to germinate.  Then, a lot of care is necessary to nurture these seedlings into plants that are hardy enough to withstand general garden conditions.  You do get invested.  A lot of your time goes into the care of these little things (whether to eventually contribute to beautifying a neighbourhood or food to harvest) so when something goes wrong there is regret and disappointment. 

But, plants can sometimes surprise you – so that’s what I’m banking on right now.  Fingers, toes, knees and legs crossed.  Wish me luck, folks!