5 Crazy Things (Garden)

On March 20th I posted a little thing about some seeds I'd ordered.  Seeds I don't need, for which I have no room and for species generally ALREADY represented in my garden and on my bench.  I remarked that I simply can not control myself... I'm like a crack addict in the garden.  (I'm already beginning to shake with fear at random thoughts of fall bulbs in grocery-hardware-store and mail.)

It seems that in the broad sense, I'm not alone.  Rather, everyone has their own species and flavors.   

My friend Bruce, of the Belltown Bent, commented... but he's just too laid back to worry about addictions.  Really.  If you look up "laid back" in the dictionary, there is a photo of Bruce.   He was thinking about the flowers... as I should have been.  But there are others who are more like me.

 Ki (of MUCKNMIRE and Plants, Trees and Nature Photos) commented (quite beautifully) that she or he¹ believed "all gardeners are actually addicts who have displaced nastier habits.  Habitués of innocuous pursuits but addiction nonetheless."  This is almost certainly true in my case.  Kim (of A Study in Contrasts) is an admitted enabler.  Her attitude seems to be: "Sure, maybe it's an addiction but it's OK, it could be worse!"  She wrote: "So you could be doing something much more dangerous, like getting addicted to spreading bamboo that you'll have forever."  And Lisa at Millertime (who never fails to astound me with her projects) admitted that she thinks "the garden addiction is better than any drug out there!" (You should know that Lisa has admitted to being more of a garden "stoner" than a "crack head.") 

But it was Ginger who had the big idea!  She wrote:

OOOh, a twelve step program?  That would be a fun project for laughs.  I am a plant addict as well!  Proud of it, no plans to change.  Winning the lottery would mean more plants to plant!  More gardens to plan and more tools to clean!  Okay, let's start it here...You know you are a plant addict if....(fill in the blank)

1. You receive plants from a nursery and you can't remember having ordered them!
2. You need to prepare a new bed for the new plants as there is no room in the existing garden!

So...  I hope I don't regret this... but Let's Start A Meme!

I want you to write about "5 Crazy Things You've ACTUALLY Done That Only Gardening Addict Would Understand (or admit to)."

I've lifted the "guidelines" almost verbatim from the best meme I've ever seen - the one I hope to emulate.  That one was "listing 5 things everyone should eat before they die."  It originated at The Traveler's Lunchbox (a beautiful blog) and went around the world.  "Lunchbox" is a food blog.  It makes sense.  And everyone reported back to the source.  And the good people at Lunchbox did the legwork - which must have been plenty - and archived the results.  So now, today, you can survey a comprehensive global list of "top 5" choices.  The people at Lunchbox should be congratulated.  You can see my response here.  You can view the Lunchbox list here.

Here are some general guidelines.

1. I'm restricting contributions to five items per blogger, which is hard, I know! But this will keep the list semi-manageable in length and will force you to really think hard about what your absolute top picks would be.  You're welcome to be as general or as pin-sharp as you like, referring to specific plants, seasons, phases, gardens, etc.

2. Oh, and although I really welcome contributions from bloggers all over the world, I'm asking for all contributions to be in English to keep the list coherent.

3. I'm envisioning the contribution process to be passed along like a normal meme, which is why I'm tagging five people to start, but feel free to participate even if you haven't yet been tagged.  And if you want to participate but don't feel like devoting an entire post to it, you're welcome to do that too by commenting here - just whatever you do, comment on this post with your five things or your permalink so I can add your choices to a (hopefully) ever-growing list as they come in.

4. Be sure to include a link on your post back to this page... so that it will be easy for anyone to come to the full list.

5. In a day or so, I'll add a link to the splash page of this blog to make this page easier to find, so you can easily come back and check on new additions! (If you are so inclined.)

6. You can use the graphic I created if you want (there are some size choices below).

7. Feel free to use photos.

8. Feel free to trackback .

 I hope I'm not coming off as too much of a hypocrite.  After all, at the end of last year I posted a short bit with 5 (or 6) thoughts on ridiculous "meme's" where I lambasted the  term "meme"² and indicated that I thought they were generally rather idiotic.  I then went on to suggest 5 or 6 tests or guidelines that I would apply to evaluate all future memes.³  Wow - I can be staggeringly obtuse.  Apologies.

Anyway... I'll post my 5 in the next day or so (if this thing takes off) as I'll be traveling.

So now... to kick things off... which 5 blogs shall I tag?  There are so many choices!  (Feel free to participate regardless.)

Ki

Millertime

A Study in Contrasts

Whoreticulture

Transplantable Rose

There are so many I've left off, but my hope is I'll get to read all of your stories!

---

Notes

¹ I cannot discern the proper gender term for KI from the name OR either blog.  I apologize in advance to Ki.  I know that I'd not be a big fan of being addressed as the other gender and can imagine he or she will not be delighted either.  But I have no idea... and maybe that's by design, something about anonymity on the web (about which I've started an essay but cannot seem to finish).  Regardless, I offer my apologies to Ki.   back to text

² This "hope" rather arrogantly assumes that anyone read that post in the first place... and that anyone will read this one now.  Maybe I'm just trying to keep things straight within my own "system" or "code" of behavior.  And therefore, I should admit that of course, at the time, I'd not bothered to look up the word "meme."  I just thought it sounded idiotic.   That's shameful... especially because I had the pronunciation wrong.  When I did look it up (by accident), I was stunned at the brilliance (and pronunciation) of the word.   I wrote about that in in this Mutualist Supermeme post.  I wrote: 

Meme: noun /meem/ a cultural unit (an idea or value or pattern of behavior) that is passed from one generation to another by non-genetic means (as by imitation); "memes are the cultural counterpart of genes"

"meme." WordNet® 2.1. Princeton University. 15 Feb. 2007. dictionary.reference.com/browse/meme.

Apparently the term was coined by analogy with 'gene', by the somewhat famous evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins.

(Don't get Marcel - a friend of mine, eccentric genius and brand new dad - started on Dawkins, he has strong feelings there).   -  back to text 

³ Here are the "rules" I stated.

1.  It cannot be called a "meme" - that's just stupid.  Sorry.  That's how I feel. 
2.  It must be relevant... somehow... to something.
3.  The origin must be easily "findable" - as in, within one click.
4.  It must be compilable.  Rather, the cumulative list ought to have some kind of interest... (to me, if I'm participating).
5.  It must be compiled at the origin.
6.  Finally, just because I'm being a crank anyway it must have a graphic.  OK... maybe this is a dumb criterion.

I'm really not that rigid in real life.  back to text

---

Downloads

Download GardenAnonymous.png (624.0K)
Download GardenersAnonymous300pxls.jpg (24.8K)
Download GardenersAnonymous500pxls.jpg (41.1K)

---

Comments

[chuck b.]

I'm delighted you thought of me. I'll get to this tonight or tomorrow for sure.

[Annie in Austin]

Okay, Hank -I'll think about it and do it in a couple of days, too. And as the old lady of this group, let me say thanks for allowing that I might still do crazy things.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

[Ellis Hollow]

OK Hank. I'm in. My 5 are here:
Ellis Hollow

I'm pretty sure I'll have another 5 by tomorrow.

The list:
1. To celebrate my birthday (April 29), every year I drive 70 miles to save $5 on hanging baskets — even though it’s usually a month before I can stop bringing them in a night.
2. When it’s 90 F (really hot for these parts), I mow the lawn anyway because I need the grass clippings for mulch.
3. Because my soil is too wet, I built a raised rock garden to grow dryland plants.
4. Because my soil is too dry, I dug out a water garden so that I could grow aquatic plants.
5. Whenever I see an object that will hold more soil than a saucer I think, “What can I grow in that?”

[Annie in Austin]

My post is up, Hank. But since it's me, there's no way the words and photos will fit in your comment section.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

Annie's Crazy Gardener Meme

[Ki]

County clerk,
Here's my list.

1. If one is good ten's better i.e. order for 25 Japanese maples, 15 epimediums.

2. There's always room for one more.

3. I wonder if it will grow here?

4. Scouring the online nurseries for that one special plant.

5. Wanting to tag every plant in the yard with common and Latin names.

[Lisa]

Hank, I had to give this the weekend to mull it over, but here are my 5:

1. I actually look forward to a weekend of spreading horse manure as if it were a holiday.

2. Fill out all prospective plant mailorders at least 3 times to try and bring the total to a reasonable amount.

3. Notice the plants in movies and TV shows, trying to ID them and figure out how to get myself a specimen.

4. Keep planting something over and over, even though I've killed it at least 3 times.

5. Consider time spent gardening as the very best part of the day, no matter what!

[anna maria]

Hi Hank,
I crashed the party and joined your meme. My five are on my blog at Italiano
I know you can improve on this link address!

[Pam]

I'm late to this party, but better late than never, right?

Tales from the Lab

[Mary Ann Newcomer]

Late but in the Meme all the same. All my shame is posted over at Idaho Gardener. Mea culpa. Nolo contendre.

[Lexi Sundell]

I find the other participants in this meme to be kindred spirits. My five are posted at http://www.energiesofcreation.com/garden-thoughts/five-crazy-things/

Thanks for the great idea!
Lexi

[Silvia / Salix]

I thought of 2 things right away, I've still got to come up with 3 more. Fun meme!