My heart-wrenching kangaroo paw plants have finally started to flower, bringing some joy, but a little bit of sadness, too. Perhaps the best lesson they’re teaching me at the moment is not to get too attached to anything.
I’ve always wanted to have kangaroo paw in the garden.
They’re one of the few Australian flowers I’ve always known about.
I consider them iconic Australian flora.
They have a connection to the theme of this website.
Most of the kangaroo paw I have in our garden have a connection to my hometown.
Apart from one plant, I grew all our kangaroo paw from seed I bought in Belgrave, where I grew up.
I’d never grown anything from seed in my life before the plants, which we have now had for a couple of years.
Our kangaroo paw thrived, and I could give away plants to friends and neighbors.
I thought I was sharing my happiness (but may have been a bloody nuisance, in which case, I apologize) by giving away the plants.
Hopefully, they have also brought great delight to others.
Last year, we had a great batch grow in a huge pot, and they made a marvelous specimen.
Those plants got eaten by bugs, though.
It appears the replacements I planted last month after digging up the pot may have met a similar fate.
We’ve got little aphid nymphs floating around on a lot of the plants.
It’s sad that the pot and its lovely soil won’t be put to use this year.
But sadder that the thriving kangaroo paw will not be blooming there.
Plenty of the flowers are growing, though.
And so are flowers in the rest of the garden.
Our snow in the summer is simply spectacular and getting better.
And the grevillea is just stupendous!
No amount of superlatives can express the joy our garden brings me.
Every day is a glorious celebration and explosion of color, joy and life.
But short-blooming flowers are also a wonderful reminder of the transient nature of life.
I’m so attached to so much at the moment, especially my job, which is bringing me possibly more delight even than the garden.
It’s important to enjoy now, this moment, because we have no idea what’s gonna happen.
