Playing god

Each October at Rohan Farm, we have a sign of cold weather’s impending arrival – the day Cathy plays god with the outdoor plants. Which ones come in the house, which are on life support in the barn tack room, which are left dormant in the garage, and which ones die on the patio with the the first frost. 

 She has done this for over two decades and has it down to a science. The orchids, plumeria, and ornamental pepper plants all come inside. The pepper plant has been making the trip in for over 20 years, which to me is a bit amazing. 

 The plants that will go dormant move to the garage or the tack room. They receive a trim, and then it is up to them to survive. The ones in the tack room, which is heated, receive an occasional drink of water. Those in the garage are on their own. Tough love at its best. 

And the remaining plants? They stay on the back patio. They are like soldiers on the front line in a doomed mission. They will give us their all – their greenery and color for another week or two until they succumb to the inevitable, when the first heavy frost arrives. Like young soldiers sacrificed for some greater good, they go quickly from the vibrancy of life to death all in one night. Mother Nature never takes prisoners and these will be sacrifices to the Frost Gods. After they are gone, the pots are loaded into the gator and transferred to a shed. We will see the pots, but generally not the plants, next year. Miraculously, some plants reseed in their pots and start new growth. No water or light all winter, and yet they survive.

My role in all of this is minor. I am the lifter/mover/loader guy. Cathy is the brains behind the operation. Like any good General, she makes her decisions and moves on without looking back. There may be the occasional error, but there is no second guessing. After 25 years here, she knows what needs to be done with the plants in all four seasons. Learning from her mother and grandmother, Cathy was a master gardener before they ever invented the term.

Addendum:

Here is a short blog from a couple of years ago about Cath, her mom, and her grandmother, and their love for gardening: There were no gardens at the farm 23 years ago.  Now, they dominate our landscape.  Cathy did this, through a combination of inherited  knowledge, hard work and love.  She is the daughter of Faye and a Granddaughter of Juda. Her gardening talent was born long before I […] Continue here: https://mnhallblog.wordpress.com/2022/08/03/granddaughter-of-juda/