WILD-FLOWER GARDEN.

A wild-flower garden has a most attractive sound. One thinks of long tramps in the woods, collecting material, and then of the fun in fixing up a real for sure wild garden.

Many people say they have no luck at all with such a garden. It is not a question of luck, but a question of understanding, for wild flowers are like people and each has its personality. What a plant has been accustomed to in Nature it desires always. In fact, when removed from its own sort of living conditions, it sickens and dies. That is enough to tell us that we should copy Nature herself. Suppose you are hunting wild flowers. As you choose certain flowers from the woods, notice the soil they are in, the place, conditions, the surroundings, and the neighbours.

Suppose you find dog-tooth violets and wind-flowers growing near together. Then place them so in your own new garden. Suppose you find a certain violet enjoying an open situation; then it should always have the same. You see the point, do you not? If you wish wild flowers to grow in a tame garden make them feel at home. Cheat them into almost believing that they are still in their native haunts.

Wild flowers ought to be transplanted after blossoming time is over. Take a trowel and a basket into the woods with you. As you take up a few, a columbine, or a hepatica, be sure to take with the roots some of the plant’s own soil, which must be packed about it when replanted.

The bed into which these plants are to go should be prepared carefully before this trip of yours. Surely you do not wish to bring those plants back to wait over a day or night before planting. They should go into new quarters at once. The bed needs soil from the woods, deep and rich and full of leaf mold. The under drainage system should be excellent. Then plants are not to go into water-logged ground. Some people think that all wood plants should have a soil saturated with water. But the woods themselves are not water-logged. It may be that you will need to dig your garden up very deeply and put some stone in the bottom. Over this the top soil should go. And on top, where the top soil once was, put a new layer of the rich soil you brought from the woods.

Before planting water the soil well. Then as you make places for the plants put into each hole some of the soil which belongs to the plant which is to be put there.

I think it would be a rather nice plan to have a wild-flower garden giving a succession of bloom from early spring to late fall; so let us start off with March, the hepatica, spring beauty and saxifrage. Then comes April bearing in its arms the beautiful columbine, the tiny bluets and wild geranium. For May there are the dog-tooth violet and the wood anemone, false Solomon’s seal, Jack-in-the-pulpit, wake robin, bloodroot and violets. June will give the bellflower, mullein, bee balm and foxglove. I would choose the gay butterfly weed for July. Let turtle head, aster, Joe Pye weed, and Queen Anne’s lace make the rest of the season brilliant until frost.

Let us have a bit about the likes and dislikes of these plants. After you are once started you’ll keep on adding to this wild-flower list.

There is no one who doesn’t love the hepatica. Before the spring has really decided to come, this little flower pokes its head up and puts all else to shame. Tucked under a covering of dry leaves the blossoms wait for a ray of warm sunshine to bring them out. These embryo flowers are further protected by a fuzzy covering. This reminds one of a similar protective covering which new fern leaves have. In the spring a hepatica plant wastes no time on getting a new suit of leaves. It makes its old ones do until the blossom has had its day. Then the new leaves, started to be sure before this, have a chance. These delayed, are ready to help out next season. You will find hepaticas growing in clusters, sort of family groups. They are likely to be found in rather open places in the woods. The soil is found to be rich and loose. So these should go only in partly shaded places and under good soil conditions. If planted with other woods specimens give them the benefit of a rather exposed position, that they may catch the early spring sunshine. I should cover hepaticas over with a light litter of leaves in the fall. During the last days of February, unless the weather is extreme take this leaf covering away. You’ll find the hepatica blossoms all ready to poke up their heads.

The spring beauty hardly allows the hepatica to get ahead of her. With a white flower which has dainty tracings of pink, a thin, wiry stem, and narrow, grass-like leaves, this spring flower cannot be mistaken. You will find spring beauties growing in great patches in rather open places. Plant a number of the roots and allow the sun good opportunity to get at them. For this plant loves the sun.

The other March flower mentioned is the saxifrage. This belongs in quite a different sort of environment. It is a plant which grows in dry and rocky places. Often one will find it in chinks of rock. There is an old tale to the effect that the saxifrage roots twine about rocks and work their way into them so that the rock itself splits. Anyway, it is a rock garden plant. I have found it in dry, sandy places right on the borders of a big rock. It has white flower clusters borne on hairy stems.

The columbine is another plant that is quite likely to be found in rocky places. Standing below a ledge and looking up, one sees nestled here and there in rocky crevices one plant or more of columbine. The nodding red heads bob on wiry, slender stems. The roots do not strike deeply into the soil; in fact, often the soil hardly covers them. Now, just because the columbine has little soil, it does not signify that it is indifferent to the soil conditions. For it always has lived, and always should live, under good drainage conditions. I wonder if it has struck you, how really hygienic plants are? Plenty of fresh air, proper drainage, and good food are fundamentals with plants.

It is evident from study of these plants how easy it is to find out what plants like. After studying their feelings, then do not make the mistake of huddling them all together under poor drainage conditions.

I always have a feeling of personal affection for the bluets. When they come I always feel that now things are beginning to settle down outdoors. They start with rich, lovely, little delicate blue blossoms. As June gets hotter and hotter their colour fades a bit, until at times they look quite worn and white. Some people call them Quaker ladies, others innocence. Under any name they are charming. They grow in colonies, sometimes in sunny fields, sometimes by the road-side. From this we learn that they are more particular about the open sunlight than about the soil.

If you desire a flower to pick and use for bouquets, then the wild geranium is not your flower. It droops very quickly after picking and almost immediately drops its petals. But the purplish flowers are showy, and the leaves, while rather coarse, are deeply cut. This latter effect gives a certain boldness to the plant that is rather attractive. The plant is found in rather moist, partly shaded portions of the woods. I like this plant in the garden. It adds good colour and permanent colour as long as blooming time lasts, since there is no object in picking it.

There are numbers and numbers of wild flowers I might have suggested. These I have mentioned were not given for the purpose of a flower guide, but with just one end in view your understanding of how to study soil conditions for the work of starting a wild-flower garden.

If you fear results, take but one or two flowers and study just what you select. Having mastered, or better, become acquainted with a few, add more another year to your garden. I think you will love your wild garden best of all before you are through with it. It is a real study, you see.

Versatility in Your Summer Garden

There is no hard and fast rule as to what a summer garden should be. This means that your personal vision for your summer garden is going to be quite achievable if you take the time to do the proper research and plan the planting for your summer gardening wisely and with great care. One thing is certain, planting wisely can produce a summer garden that is beautiful and maintains some degree of natural pest control. Your summer garden can produce fruit, vegetables, flowers, and even be designed in order to attract certain birds or butterflies. Of course, your summer garden may also be designed to accomplish more than one of these goals as well. That’s the beauty of the versatility of your average summer garden.

Here are a few things to consider. Versatility in a summer garden means that you aren’t committed to one prevailing purpose or theme. This means that it is not at all inappropriate to plant a few flowering plants or herbs as pest control along with your favorite summertime vegetable offerings. At the same time it is completely acceptable to add a few vegetables that you just can’t seem to live without in your flower garden or amid a the plants in a garden of green.

When it comes to colors, the possibilities of the average summer garden are almost limitless. There are plenty of brightly colored flowers that hallmark the summer season and bring a little splash of color to a world that is often drained of color by the sometimes blinding summer sunshine. By brining a few well placed colors into your garden as a highlight or border you are adding dramatic appeal. If you choose to make your garden a sea of brightly colored flowers, plants, leaves, and vines you can also achieve great affect that may be breathtaking in beauty. Be prepared to spend a great deal of time tending a garden of this nature however as many of the brightly colored flowering plants are attention hogs to some degree.

If you live in a dryer climate you also have the option of using low water landscaping or creative conservation techniques in order to create a garden that is lovely in its own right. A garden doesn’t have to be excessively green or full of bright vividly colored flowers in order to be beautiful. By using landscaping techniques that are conservative in nature you are making your own conservation efforts and the rest of the planet should appreciate not only the effort but also the beauty of the creation that was born of that effort.

If you prefer nice and lush greenery and live in a climate that will accommodate this particular style of a summer garden there is no reason to avoid this either. Be sure to use some conservation efforts though because you never know when drought conditions may present themselves in climates that are typically quite moderate as we are learning in the Midwest this summer.

Vegetable gardens are yet another option when creating your summer garden and another fine example of just how versatile these gardens may be. Keep in mind that many people are discovering the beauty of vertical gardening and hanging plants for a few favorite vegetables and this may be an option if you wish to use limited space wisely and to greater effect.

Another option when it comes to showing the incredible versatility of the summer garden is raised gardening. This is quite literally planting your garden above the ground. Some people create elaborate ’sand boxes’ of sorts in which the garden is planted. This allows great versatility for those with smaller spaces in which to plant their gardens as well as those who have landscaping issues that are inhospitable for gardening.

These are but a few examples of just how versatile a summer garden may be but I think they provide excellent insight and food for thought for those who are looking for a little something new and different for their summer gardens.

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Using Xeriscaping to Save Time and Water

While having a full fledged garden is rewarding and enjoyable, lots of
people simply dont have the time that is required to maintain it. Whether
you have too much going on at work or too many kids to take care of, you
should never try to operate a garden if you dont think you can handle it.

For those people who are just too busy for a normal garden, I would
suggest a somewhat recent method of gardening known as Xeriscaping. This
minimal yet stylish theory first emerged in Colorado when water levels
were at an all time low. It is a great method of having a great looking
yard or garden, without having to maintain it or water it very often at
all.

Here in Colorado, many places are offering free Xeriscaping lessons in
order to encourage the conservation of water. If your area is undergoing a
drought, you should check with the water suppliers and see if they are
offering lessons. If you attend those, you will be able to get advice
specific to your region (IE types of plants to grow, how much to water
them, etc).

To some, the name Xeriscaping conjures the image of a yard that consists
of a giant rock bed. However, this is known as zero scaping, and it is a
considerably different concept. It focuses on reducing your yard to
nothing that requires any maintenance whatsoever. Unfortunately this is
usually just rocks. But this shouldnt be your goal. While keeping
maintenance at a minimum, it is still possibly to retain a nice looking
yard that wont attract the negative attention of everyone who passes by.

This might sound like it would be hard to implement without making your
yard into a hideous mess, but this is not so at all. The theory basically
involves choosing plants which are low maintenance to begin with, then
putting them each in environments that are ideal. It is usually applied by
figuring out what side of the house to place it on to get the best amount
of shade, and figuring out how to group it with plants with similar water
needs.

To get started in your Xeriscaping renovation, you first need to pick out
all the plants you will be using. They should for the most part require a
low amount of water. This doesnt mean you can only grow cactuses in your
yard. Just cut back on the really thirsty plants that you have to water
every day to keep alive. Youll want to stick with local plants for the
most part, and dont go with anything too exotic as these generally
require larger amounts of water.

The second most important principle of xeriscaping is placing the plants
in ideal areas. If you place them all together with plants that require
essentially the same amount of water, then you will end up saving lots of
water. Also place the plants in areas where they will be protected from
wind or excessive sun, depending on the needs of the plants. Xeriscaping
is almost the same thing as microclimating, just with more of a focus on
adaptation to harsh conditions rather than avoiding them. So if it sounds
good to you and youre looking to save time and water by renovating your
garden, you should look for xeriscaping lessons.

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Using Vines to Decorate your Garden

A great way to decorate your garden is the use of vines. They are very low maintenance and look good on almost anything. If youve got a fence or separator that really stands out in the field of green that is your garden, then growing a vine over it can be a quick and aesthetically pleasing solution. However, there are many types of vines for different situations, whether you are trying to grow it up the side of a house, along the ground, or up a tree.

Many different ground vines are available. These types grow fast and strong, and just inch their ways along the ground. They are very easy to direct, so they can make a border around your garden, or just weave in and out of the plants. I suggest using these as a hardy ground cover if you just want some green on your dirt or mulch. Usually you can find a variety that is resistant to being stepped on. Its like a leafy, nice alternative to grass. Even if you have kids and a dog, it should have no problems staying alive.

Another type of vine that is available is a twining vine. This refers to their method of climbing. Twining vines require a lattice or equally porous surface to climb up, since they are not sticky at all. They just climb by sending out small tendrils to loop around whatever is nearby. I suggest using this type of vine for climbing up trees, or any type of mesh. Usually you have to guide them a lot more during their early stages, and after that they will go wherever you want them to.

Vines not only look good on the ground or on lattices, you can blend them in to the very architecture of your house. This is usually achieved through the use of vines with small tendrils that have adhesive tips. They extend from the vine and attach themselves to almost any surface. If your garden is adjacent to your house and you want something to camouflage the big unsightly wall, its a great idea to start out a few vines near the base. If you have a vine like the Virginia Creeper growing, then your entire wall will be covered in a matter of months. However I have seen situations where the vine got out of control. After that, you have no choice but to watch the vine take over your entire house.

One of the vines that you would probably recognize is Ivy. You see it around a lot, generally because it is so adaptable. Out of the types I mentioned above (ground, twining, and sticky pads), Ivy can fill in for pretty much anything. It makes a great ground cover, and will grow up about any surface you put it on. Although it grows quick and strong, I wouldnt suggest growing it up your house. This is because recently, buildings which have had ivy for many years have found that it has been deteriorating the building.

So no matter what you want to do with a vine, you should have no problem getting it to grow. You should always do your research beforehand and find out about any negative qualities the vine has (such as its ability to destroy buildings, in Ivys case.)

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Using Rain Barrels to Survive Droughts

If youre a gardener that has an unlimited supply of water, consider
yourself lucky. There are many of us who live in drought zones where the
garden and lawn watering rules are very constrictive to the healthy growth
of gardens and plants. Many people just give up when they find out how few
gallons of water they are permitted to use, but some of us have just found
ways to cope with less water. There are many ways to optimize ones garden
to conserve water while still keeping it lush.

Some of the ways include drip irrigation (the use of a pipe or hose with
small holes to gradually seep into the roots of the plant), the placement
of plants in groups of equal watering needs (to prevent wasting water on
plants that dont need it), and using compost or mulch to insulate the
water and prevent drainage.

But one of the best ways to keep your garden alive during a drought is to
take preventative measures. Occasionally a drought will be predicted far
in advanced, or those already experiencing a drought will be given a few
weeks of heavy rain. When this occurs, you should take the opportunity to
set up several rain barrels. Many people think this would be a time
consuming, silly thing to do. But it can save you many gallons of water,
and hardly requires any work.

Finding the barrels will probably be the hardest part. You can use your
own garbage cans, or head to your home improvement store to get a few 55
gallon plastic drums. These can be expensive and difficult to transport,
so keep that in mind before you go to the store. You will probably want to
cover the top of the barrel with a screen of some sort to filter out any
unwanted leaves or debris that might fall off the roof of your house.

Once you have your barrels ready, youre faced with the decision of where
to place them. Usually during rainfall, there is one corner or segment of
the house that rain tends to pour off of. If you are taking the simple
approach to barrel placement, just place the barrel under all the places
where you see large amounts of drips. However, while this might be the
easiest way to place them, you wont see very high volumes of rain in the
barrels.

If you want to take a more complicated approach to placing the barrels,
you should consider tweaking your gutter system a bit. If you remove each
individual segment and place it at a very slight slant so that all the
water is diverted to the nearest corner of the house, you can place a rain
barrel at each corner. So essentially your entire house acts as a catcher
for the rain, instead of just a few feet worth of shingles. This is how to
maximize the amount of water your rain barrel will catch.

After a heavy rainfall, each individual barrel probably wont see very
much rain. If it looks like it wont be raining more any time soon, its a
good idea to empty each barrel into one main central barrel. Seal it and
save it out of the way, for whenever you may need it. Then the next time
it starts to rain, youll be able to quickly put all your catching barrels
into place without having to lug around all the water youve accumulated
so far.

The use of water barrels might sound like an antiquated idea. However,
when youre in the midst of a drought and youre able to spare that extra
couple of gallons for your garden in addition the city allotment, youll
be grateful for every bit of time and money you spent on collecting all
that rain. All it takes is a few trips out in the backyard every time it
starts to sprinkle, and youll be a very happy gardener when water isnt
so abundant.

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Using Gardening to Get in Shape

While gardening is usually thought of as a productive way to grow beautiful plants and obtain tasty fruits and vegetables, few gardeners have ever considered the immense amounts of exercise one can get in the process of gardening. While you can get almost as much muscle (if not more) exercise as you do working out, it is very productive at the same time.

You may wonder how gardening could possibly give as much exercise as working out. Just think about all the various facets of preparing a garden. There are holes to be dug, bags and pots to be carried, and weeds to be pulled. Doing all of these things help to work out almost every group of muscles in your body.

My brother is a fanatic about working out. Almost every time I call his house, I end up interrupting some muscle toning activity. Ive never really enjoyed working out, though, as it seems that the constant lifting of heavy things just puts a strain on my body with no immediate positive results. But while he is into working out, I am almost equally enthusiastic about gardening. I work outside improving my garden almost every day. I think I definitely surprised my brother when he realized that I am almost as muscular as he is; but I have never lifted a single dumbbell!

Before you go out into your garden, you should always stretch out. Even if your goal isnt to work out and get exercise, its still a good idea. Often gardeners spend long periods of time hunched over or bent over. This can be bad for your back. So not only should you stretch out before hand, but you should always take frequent breaks if youre spending long amounts of time in these positions.

Weeding and pruning are some of the best workouts a gardener can get. With the constant crouching and standing, the legs get a great workout. If your weeds are particularly resistant, your arms will become particularly toned just from the effort required to remove them from the ground. If you plan on taking the whole workout think very seriously, you should always be switching arms and positions to spread out the work between different areas of your body.

One of the most obvious ways to get exercise is in the transporting and lifting of bags and pots. Between the nursery and your house, you will have to move the bags multiple times (to the checkout, to your car, to your garden, and then spreading them out accordingly). As long as you remember to lift with your legs and not your back, transporting bags and pots can give you a fairly big workout, even though you probably dont make those purchases very often.

Mowing your grass can also be a great exercise. If youve got an older mower that isnt self propelled, just the act of pushing it through the grass will give you more of a workout than going to the gym for a few hours. During the course of mowing the grass, you use your chest, arms, back, and shoulder to keep the mower ahead of you. Your thighs and butt also get worked a lot to propel the mower. Not only do you get an all around muscle work out, but it can improve your hearts health. Its good for you as a cardiovascular activity, as well as a great way to lose weight due to the increased heart rate and heavy breathing.

If you plan on using gardening as a way to get in shape or lose some weight, you can hardly go wrong. Just be sure to stretch out, drink plenty of water, and apply sunscreen. As long as you take steps to prevent the few negative effects such as pulled muscles, dehydration and sunburn, I think youll have a great time and end up being a healthier person because of it.

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Tips For Having Beautiful Peonies

The peony is just about the longest-living perennial plant you will ever see. There are two basic types of peonies the herbaceous types and the tree peony.

It would be best to plant peonies at the back of flower borders as they are large plants. In the spring, the peonies have attractive ferny foliage and the beautiful blooms are usually produced in May.

Peonies best thrive in a place that receives at least half a day to a full day of sunshine. If the climate is very hot, then provide some afternoon shade for these plants.

The best time to plant the peony is the early fall but early spring plantings do well also. Make sure to prepare the site well. Dig an oversized hole and make sure that you fill some of it with compost.

The secret of having a successful peony is this: Make sure that the tuber is positioned so that the eyes which are located on the crown are covered with about two inches of soil.

Peonies are picky they do not like to be planted very deeply. If your peonies have stopped producing flowers after a few years, then you should see if perhaps they have sunken too low in their bed. Perhaps they have had too much soil sitting on top of them.

If your peonies seem to flop over by mid-summer, then it would be a good idea to stake them. When you go to cut your flowers, clip them when the buds are just beginning to unfurl. Once they are put in water, the blooms will quickly open and will last for about a week indoors.

Tips for Growing Gardenias

If you have been looking for a plant that has an incredible fragrance, then you have found it in the gardenia. For those blessed with a green thumb, your gardenias will be things of beauty with their white scented blooms.

This plant thrives in tropical climates. So if you live in a tropical climate, gardenias should be plentiful.

In order to choose a nice gardenia, look for a compact plant and one that is full of glossy foliage. The leaves should have a rich, bright green color.

The gardenia needs a lot of light. You should see that the gardenia does not get direct afternoon sun as that is usually the hottest part of the summer.

The gardenia needs an even amount of moisture. They react to the waters quality and temperature. They like room temperature distilled water the best. When the gardenia isnt blooming, it should be kept a little drier.

These plants bloom the best when the days are warm and the nights are cool. Gardenias are usually tolerant of different variations in temperatures, particularly if it is humid. In order to perform at their very best, gardenias need a climate that has high humidity.

It is best to use a water-soluble fertilizer on gardenias every two to three weeks. Several times during the year, you may use an acid fertilizer.

Once you have smelled the gardenia, you will become hooked! Follow the above tips and you will more than likely be able to grow beautiful gardenias both outside and inside of your home.

Tips for Gardening Tools

What good would a green thumb do you if you do not have some of the very essential gardening tools to make your job go a lot smoother? Here are some basics that every good gardener should have beginning with the novice all the way up to the professional gardener.

Gloves You should have a good pair of waterproof gloves that fit well. You should also find some that have long cuffs. Gardening gloves seem to be best suited to fit men so women will probably have to hunt to find a good pair.

Sun hat You should have a hat with a wide brim equipped with a drawstring cord. This should provide adequate protection from the sun. You have to make sure that your hat will not be lifted aloft when those spring winds come.

Canvas apron A good apron to have is one that has pockets to fit some of your tools in as well as your phone. This is good when you dont always have a chance to put on your grubbiest clothes.

Five-gallon bucket This comes in handy to tote your tools around with you as you make your way through the flower beds. You can always toss weeds in as you are working!

Spade This is an important tool to have but one that can easily get misplaced or thrown out by accident. It would be a good idea to get some brightly-colored tape to wrap around the handle so it will show up against the grass.

Pruners These are great to clip back woody stems. You will get a nice, clean cut that will minimize any injury to plant tissue.

Hand rake This is just a little bit larger than a spade and does a great job in fluffing up mulch or in turning up very young weeds.

The Psychology Behind Gardening

I dont know what it is about a garden that has always drawn humans to
them. But theyve always been very popular, and an integral part of
peoples lifestyles. Most religions feature gardens as the settings for
some of the biggest events According to Christianity, humanity was started
in a garden and the son of God was resurrected in a garden. The Buddhist
build gardens to allow nature to permeate their surroundings. Almost every
major palace and government building has a garden. But whats so great
about them? Theyre just a bunch of plants, after all.

Of course, the reasoning is fairly obvious behind why people grow food in
gardens. Its to eat! If you live off the fat of the land and actually
survive on stuff from your garden, its easy to understand the reasoning.
But Im thinking about those people who plant flower gardens just for the
sake of looking nice. Theres no immediate benefit that I can see; you
just have a bunch of flowers in your yard! However, after thinking
extensively about the motivation behind planting decorative gardens, Ive
conceived several possible theories.

I think one of the reasons people love gardens so much is that while we
have a natural desire to progress and industrialize, deep within all of us
is a primal love for nature. While this desire might not be as strong as
the desire for modernism, it is still strong enough to compel us to create
gardens, small outlets of nature, in the midst of all our hustle and
bustle. Since being in nature is like regressing to an earlier stage of
humanity, we too can regress to a time of comfort and utter happiness.
This is why gardens are so relaxing and calming to be in. This is why
gardens are a good place to meditate and do tai chi exercises. A garden is
a way to quickly escape from the busy world.

Ive thought at times that perhaps we as humans feel a sort of guilt
driving us to restore nature and care for it. This guilt could stem from
the knowledge that we, not personally but as a race, have destroyed so
much of nature to get where we are today. Its the least we can do to
build a small garden in remembrance of all the trees we kill every day.
Its my theory that this is the underlying reason for most people to take
up gardening as a hobby.

Gardening is definitely a healthy habit though, dont get me wrong. Any
hobby that provides physical exercise, helps the environment, and improves
your diet cant be a negative thing. So no matter what the underlying
psychological cause for gardening is, I think that everyone should
continue to do so. In the USA especially, which is dealing with obesity
and pollution as its two major problems, I think gardening can only serve
to improve the state of the world.

Of course Im no psychologist; Im just a curious gardener. I often stay
up for hours wondering what makes me garden. What is it that makes me go
outside for a few hours every day with my gardening tools, and facilitate
the small-time growth of plants that would grow naturally on their own? I
may never know, but in this case ignorance truly is bliss.

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