On Friday, the mallow was in its glory, larger than I'd ever seen it in the 20-some years it has queened it over the back yard with its blaze of pink massed and glowing in the spring sun. So I took a picture of its blooming beauty and posted it before dawn on Sunday morning. When the sun came up and I went out into the back hard, its cascade of flowers were drooping alarmingly. Peering more closely, I could see the mass of branches covered with water-catching blooms had simply caught too much of the rain and the added weight of the water had caused the entire plant to shift in the soggy sand and fall over on it's side, with some of its notoriously weedy and weak branches already split and drooping.
I quickly got out the pruning shears and harvested as many blooms as I could, putting several vases full on the dining room table and dropping off several huge bouquets at the neighbors. Then it was out with the lopping shears. There'll now be several hours worth of branch chopping for the green recycle bin and a few prayers that the root system wasn't ruined and the pruned back mallow will rise again.
Sic transit gloria mundi. Or, The Mallow Plant That Was Too Big To Fail.
Dang.
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4 comments:
What a shame! Another example of how tenuous life can be. I'll keep good thoughts for the lovely mallow...
I am so sorry!!! I'm glad that you shared the beautiful picture before the destruction hit! Well, "that which doesn't kill you serves to make you stronger…" I sure hope that applies to plants.
So far, the remains seem to be o.k. I'll prune them back further but the leaves on the still left branches aren't all wilting so I'm hoping the root system is still working. Unless a gopher cuts the main roots, this thing may recover. Fingers crossed.
But, my, it was spectacular before its crash. And I did learn quite by accident what long-lasting beautiful cut flowers they make.
Nature will have it's way.
Sure, they are verdent and beautiful at first, but then comes the falling down, the pruning and the hacking.
(Adapted from "Jerrasic Park")
Vitamin B-12(?) ASAP(for root transplant shock) reapply in two weeks. and of course pruning down to limit the open and split ends, as you have done.
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