Wednesday Vignette: Hope

Spring for most people is a sure thing: a time when the weather warms up, blooms start appearing, and everything greens up. To a gardener though I think that Spring is less certain. We know it is coming -- some years more quickly than others -- but there is a fair amount of hope, surprise, and even disappointment along the way.

Today's vignette (brought to you by Anna at Flutter and Hum) illustrates "hope" in the form of my hardy bananas (Musa basjoo). They've never failed to come back each year, but after removing the thick mulch of leaves it's always a mess under there.

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Upon seeing the plant's remnants I immediately question my methods and the viability of what remains.

Some pseudostems have melted away to the ground, frozen and turned to mush:

A closer look though reveals that some of them have firm flesh remaining at their bases:

That's good news, as these surviving bits seem to put up the biggest growth, at least in my experience. The plant is older now though and got BIG this year even though the previous two winters were quite harsh -- and all of the top growth died.

So it looks bad...

...and I hope for the best...

...even though reality will probably outdo my expectations.

That's a gardener's hope each Spring.

For more vignettes visit Anna at Flutter and Hum.

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