Burly Banana Trees, and Saving an Imperiled Planet

The banana trees, which arrived on September 16 at just 4 inches tall and a tad anemic, are now almost 3 feet tall and robust. Wish I’d know years ago how much fun growing bananas is!

A ‘Christmas Gift’ white amaryllis was potted up this weekend. Most of the bulbs planted lately are starting to show signs of life.

Remember that bit I wrote about not buying any more amaryllis bulbs this season? Scratch that. I happened upon some nice white ‘Christmas Gift’ bulbs over the weekend and bought two. Three. I bought three.

This is not as bad as it sounds. I gave a potted bulb to my mother-in-law, another to a colleague, one is germinating for my mother, and I plan to give another colleague one. There’s no fun in keeping them to yourself.

The banana trees are growing like crazy. I was tending our family of indoor plants and trees Sunday when I took an honest look at the banana trees. Their trunks are getting very fat, their leaves are as big as Frisbees, and they’re nearly three feet tall. They were four inches tall when we got them on September 16, less than seven weeks ago.

I wish I’d known, years ago, how easy and fun growing banana trees is. I gave them an Epsom salt treatment yesterday (they’ll need the magnesium to keep growing at the rate they’re growing) and pruned off the old dead leaves from the bottom of their trunks.

I’m wondering if we’re going to have enough ceiling height in the house for them by the time June arrives. One of these trees is destined to stay in the house, and may have to be pruned regularly to keep it from reaching the ceiling and bending. These are the kinds of problems I love to have.

We have a row of Italian parsley in the garden that’s still going strong, and we used lots of it over the weekend. Fresh parsley is a great diuretic. It has many other nutritional benefits, but the best use I’ve had for it is as a weapon against monthly bloat. In summer, I’ll just stand in the garden and munch on handsful of raw parsley. And it’s during summer that my health is always at its best.

Tomorrow is election day. This political race has been like a bad Melvillian drama. We are being led by the least among us; the least noble, the least visionary, and the least intelligent. Now, we have an imperiled planet on our hands. We must clean up the mess. And beloveds, we can’t wait until the last moment of the last hour to do it.

Live in peace.