Daisy

I've been interested in gardening for a while now.

I first got interested when I was learning about how plants store and use energy. It seemed like a powerful thing to be able to do, to take energy from the environment, from the air, the earth, the sun, and use that energy to grow tall and strong. It's not like we normally think about plants as being particularly intelligent about how they grow, and this natural process is somehow both simple and sophisticated.

I've been very particular about growing things for some time. As I've got even more interested, I've got much better as I'm noticing what it is that makes a difference. I can start out with two identical seeds from the same plant, and end up with quite different results. There was a time when I'd be happy to blame the plant for just not being a good enough plant, and now I notice much more about the way the world grows. To me it seems important to remember that a daisy will never grow as tall as a sunflower because they're different, and sunflowers will always be further away from the ground. And even then, there will be tall daisies and shorter daisies. There will be daisies that flower for a long time, and daisies whose flowering cycles are shorter. And I guess that some of that is genetic, although I'm no expert in the limitations placed on plants by their genes. I've wanted to learn much more about helping plants to realise even more of their potential by working out what I can do to really maximise the environment. Learning more about the way the world grows. About warmth, nutrients and water. I know there are some plants that can thrive in almost barren conditions, and most plants thrive in the environments for which they are best adapted.

When there's movement in the world, and plants can be growing a long way from home, it's really important to find out what's important and to make sure that it's there in the environment. And if the right nourishment is not yet present then it's definitely time to bring some of the right things back into the environment and nurture that plant, whatever it might be. Sometimes it's as simple as moving slightly into the warmth, sometimes other adjustments. I guess the important thing is knowing that if I'm growing a daisy I'm only interested in growing the best daisy I can, making sure that the air and the earth and the sun are all there working to produce just the right environment for this plant, and I can make whatever adjustment I need to make to bring the balance back into balance, and nurture and begin to realise some of the most powerful growth I can bring into being.

It seems that way to me, sometimes.