Lesson 4 - Plant a Branch

In lesson 3, I mentioned an Australian plant I bought at a gardening seminar. Something about the petite white and pink flowers on my Matilda made me think of sitting outside on a sunny afternoon while drinking tea. I imagined her all grown up, filling the space behind my patio bench as a living romantic backdrop. In addition, Matilda was drought resistant and didn't need much care. Just the thing for me.

But in an unfortunate trampling incident, Matilda was taken out by none other than my number one herbicide, Woody. But not all hope was lost. Matilda wasn't completely severed from the ground. It seemed she had joined the ranks of the late Gryffindor alumni Nearly Headless Nick, "Once again, you show the sensitivity of a blunt axe." I set Matilda back up and used my number one defense against plant death: happy thoughts. Maybe she wouldn't notice the damage.

But she did, and she fought for awhile. I guess there's only so much water and nutrients that can go up the few strands left connecting Matilda to her roots. I decided drastic measures were needed. There was a branch just below the injury that I thought might survive. So I promoted Matilda to the Headless Hunt and completely severed her. Then I did what seemed to make the most sense, I took the severed piece and stuck it in the ground. It died.

In more promising news, the uninjured piece still forges on, barely.