A Community of Plants

In The Botany of Desire: A Plant's-Eye View of the World (Random House, 2001)  journalist Michael Pollan explores, through case studies, the concept of co-evolution, humankind's evolutionary relationship with plants through  “four types of human desires, beauty, intoxication, sweetness and control.” Peter Wohllenben’s The Hidden Life of Trees What They Feel, How They Communicate—Discoveries from A Secret World (Greystone Books, 2016) helps us understand how trees communicate with one another.  Overstory (W.W. Norton & Company, 2017) by Richard Powers is a novel about trees and people and was shortlisted this year for one of the most prestigious international literary awards, the Man Booker Prize. 

These books interest me as I educate myself about trees and plants. For years the only plants in my New York flat were those associated with a particular holiday and they were temporary guests.  An Easter lily, one or two colorful poinsettias’ during the Christmas season and occasionally flowering plants for the color of their blossoms as I imagined I actually have a terrace and a small urban garden.

That changed one year when I tossed a dying geranium into my bag returning to New York from New Hampshire in the late autumn.  Perhaps I could nurture the plant back to life as a reminder of summer days by the lake?  Lovingly, I repotted and fertilized the roots and eventually, on a gray, dreary winter day the geranium bloomed. A bright red clutch of blossoms. Then I inherited a small purple shamrock that thrived until it outgrew several pots. I learned by cutting it back I could watch as it began to sprout through the potting soil and grow again.  My small window garden grew and now includes an exotic Begonia bowerae or eyelash begonia.

When Larkin Plants opened on Main Street in Laconia, I was intrigued and wandered in one day to meet Jonathan Larkin.  The shop is the space Whittemore’s Florist  occupied and Jonathan was interested because of the coolers that were in place that could provide refrigeration. If you have walked by you have probably noticed the plants in the windows in small recyclable 3 ½ pots constructed from coconut fibers.  These plants have been cultivated from cuttings and created through one of two processes.  

The first is through aquaponics.  Downstairs in the level below the shop fish tanks on the floor pump water from the tank up to the top shelf.  The beds of clippings are on shelves and kept moist with this water that continually recycles.  The second process is through artificial lighting on the shelves. If you want to learn more I encourage you to stop by and talk with Jonathan, the process is fascinating. 

Does Jonathan believe plants communicate with us? Without hesitation he replied, “of course.  Plants want our attention and if you give them something, they will give respond. There is a sense of satisfaction in cultivating and caring for plants.”

I left Larkin Plants with a small, recent cutting that was just beginning to grow.  It’s a form of begonia with decorative leaves. Jonathan wrapped it carefully in a small box for traveling and suggested I keep it warm and moist. It’s now under a large glass dome, where it’s beginning to thrive.

While I never have had an intention of maintaining a window shelf covered with plants my little community seems to be multiplying.  I have just added a few cuttings from a green shamrock plant and one of this year’s geraniums that suffered in the damp New Hampshire weather this summer. The plants are all immigrants, transplanted from somewhere else and different one from another, yet peacefully huddled together.

Jonathan is correct, they return my attention and remind me how much care, knowledge, love and respect it takes for something in nature to grow and thrive.

Elizabeth Howard is an author and journalist.  Her books include:  Ned O’Gorman: A Glance Back, a book she edited (Easton Studio Press, 2015), A Day with Bonefish Joe (David R.Godine, 2015), Queen Anne’s Lace and Wild Blackberry Pie, (Thornwillow Press, 2011). She lives in New York City and has a home in Laconia.  You can send her a note at:  Elizabeth@laconiadailysun.com  and follow her on Instagram at: @elizh24