Love the one you’re with

Steven Stills may have had it right.  If you can’t be with the one you love, “love the one you’re with.”  I think about that when I’m weeding the grass out of the petunias in the front garden.  Frankly (don’t tell Petunia), I’ve never been a big fan of this flower.  Oh yeah, yeah, I love all flowers etc. etc. but petunias?  Big fat blobs on skinny stems?  Petunias lack the scent of a tea rose, the complexity of an orchid, the beauty of a lily.  However, since I can’t “be” with tea roses, orchids and lilies all summer, I’ve decided to love the one I’m with.  And I’m with petunias.

Actually, they have done remarkably well during this hot, wet summer.  I planted an entire row of them along the street garden and every time I turn into the driveway, I’m impressed and, yep! I’m loving them.  I chose the small flowered variety because I don’t have to pick off the blooms as they fade.  They just sort of fall off to be replaced by new ones.  I love to garden but why create more work?  If I don’t have to deadhead petunias, I can spend that time tending to my tea roses.

I do have my standards, though. I’m not going to love all the creepy wild thing that show up in my garden.  Anything that is overly aggressive or potentially invasive is not allowed to stay (yes, kudzu, I’m talking about you).  Even in my free and happy garden, each plant has to show some manners and know its place.  It’s not a rigid caste system, it’s just a community where everything has to contribute and nothing can overstep its welcome.

Gardening is all about being pragmatic.  There are certain things that like to grow in my garden (petunias) and certain things that just don’t (tea roses.) For me, it’s all a balancing act, trying to keep some things from growing too much while I encourage other things to grow more. Because of this, it’s no surprise that my garden looks different every year.  I love that about gardening.  It’s always full of surprises, some happier than others, but always interesting.

So as I see sourwood leaves showing color and see the occasional yellow oak leaf floating on the lake, I know that fall is right around the corner and the petunias will have to go.  I have appreciated them and have been happy to have had them all summer but I’m ready to “be with the ones I love.”