A good friend of mine who has an exceptional green thumb taught me a little phrase she applies to perennial plants that I find apropos to much of life. First, let me define "perennial" -- at least as it applies to the world of gardening. Simply put, it’s a plant that lives for more than two years that is not a bush, shrub or tree. Good examples of common perennials include peonies, many kinds of daisies, hostas, and ornamental grasses.
Perennials can be distinguished from annuals (often referred to as bedding plants), because annuals need to be planted every year, i.e. they die over the winter. Good examples of annuals include petunias, impatiens and coleus.
Sleeping: The first year you plan a perennial, you don’t see much return for your effort. The plant, which you undoubtedly paid more for than an annual, doesn’t do much. It just sits there and establishes a root system. This is what my gardening friend refers to as “sleeping.” This is a time when you might wonder if the extra dollars you paid for it are actually worth the investment. At this point, it is less than spectacular, but wait … there’s more.
Creeping: In the second year of a perennial’s life, if you’ve taken care to plant and water carefully, you’ll likely see what my friend refers to as “creeping.” This is the slow growth a perennial begins to show as its roots are established and it expands to fill its new location and “show its stuff.” It’s definitely not a head-turner yet, but if the soil is right and it is coupled with the right care and feeding, a well-established root system or foundation will be evident.
Leaping: Finally, the third year comes. If the first two years have gone as they should, this is the point where a perennial is often observed to be “leaping” out of the ground, filling in a garden space and flashing beautiful blossoms and foliage. Non-horticultural types marvel and wonder about your green thumb. What they don’t know is how much patience it took for you to get your plant to the place it now occupies.
Perks of Perennials
In my mind, well-developed perennials are a labor-saving bargain. Once established, they take much less effort than annuals. You plant one time and weed less because they're often very good at crowding out weeds. (Of course, if you're a perennial enthusiast, like me, you may continue to try new places to plant more of them ... but that's a different issue altogether.) Perennials don't have to be replaced each year--like annuals, so they're less expensive in the long run. Because of their well-established root system, they also tend to be more drought-resistant than annuals so you can water less, saving both labor and money.
Basically, there are a lot of reasons to like perennials, but perhaps one of the reasons I like them best is that there's so much wisdom in a perennial. If only we could all be a bit more like perennials in our relationships. What if we could see our relationships at home, at work and in the community the way we see perennials--developing slowly over time to produce a beautiful harvest as the years roll by. But, I'll save that for next week. Right now I'm off to work in the garden.
Perennially yours,
Dr. Jennifer Baker
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