How Does Your Garden Grow (Poetry Challenge)
There are plants that love the light whilst others thrive in the shade.
There are plants that love the light
whilst others thrive in the shade.
Of the former, heliotropes
like the common sunflower,
turn to the sun in the day
but reorient to the east at night.
Of the latter there’s a mass
like the Japanese forest grass
with leaves that cascade
and turn red in the fall.
A gardener may feel the urge
to grow Euphorbia
which is also called Spurge
or proceed to laboriously toil
and plant primroses
that prosper in shade
and moist soil.
Perhaps he may settle
to nurture Dead nettle,
a low, spreading plant
with silvery foliage
that happily spreads.
He’ll tell you that he loves
to plants seeds and grow
Coral bells and Foxgloves
but the things he dreads
are rampant weeds
like the Shepherd’s Purse.
Some people believe
that to keep a garden in trim
it’s gruelling and grim
but an horticulturist
sees it in a different light:
for him it’s a blessing
and not a curse.
© Luigi Pagano 2017
A marvelous entry for the poetry challenge, Luigi. You must have a green thumb as well as a poet’s ear to interweave plant names in your stanzas without it reading awkwardly. I especially like these lyrical lines: Of the latter there’s a mass/like the Japanese forest grass/with leaves that cascade/and turn red in the fall. Well rendered, my friend, with such vivid imagery.
Very kind of you, Shy.
I am going to be honest and confess that I am an ignoramus about flora and rely entirely on my wife to tell me which ones are plants and which ones are weeds.
The poem is a mixture of questioning and imagination. Glad the combination worked.
Well done Luigi a horticultural extravaganza some great lines, well penned. Thank you for the most enjoyable educational read and thank you for joining in. Best Keith
Thank you Keith. I too have been educated by my spouse in regard to the variety and behaviour of different plants. See my comment to Shywolf.
I participated because I thought the poetry challenge was in need of a fillip but it looks as if not many people are attracted by the idea.
Best, Luigi.
yep just me and thee, I’ll take a breather from the challenge, wait untill the time is right to let it re-surface.
Perhaps a breather is just what we need.
Cheers. 🙂
Well written Luigi however:
Gardening in all it’s forms I deplore
Bending and scraping?
Hoeing and raking?
There’s no mistaking
It’s an arduous undertaking
Not what knees were built for
What’s more
A weed is a flower of grace
Just growing in the wrong place
As though my window I gaze
In a comfy chair to laze
All hail to the garden
But If me you’ll pardon
At it I’ll n’ere be caught
Gardening is a spectator sport 😉
That’s exactly what I do, Tony. Just sit and watch. 🙂