Red March

The  tale of my long love-affair with quince has been told earlier (here). Our new quince bush went through a species of hell after we removed its strangling straight-jacket-of-a-black-plastic-tub and gave it a new home. Removing that tub we also noted how its roots had been savagely butchered to fit the tub. I kept shaking my head and throwing up my hands. Then in the matter of a week or so its leaves began to curl up in advance of dying. The bush seemed to have given up. But then, surprisingly, new leaves appeared. Now Quincy has settled in and has grown its first reddish flowers—delighting us immensely. The first red in our garden this year. The second bit of red emerged indoors. One of our venerable geraniums produced a bloom quite early, and as the weather warmed it got to go outdoors. A recent cold-spell caused us to bring it in again, but soon we’ll cross the threshold a second time. Farewell to March of 2012. It’s been an interesting month.

That first post on quince, incidentally, has become a readers’ favorite. One never knows in advance. There are endless layers in reality, not least vast underground communities of people who love plants and peaceably live their lives beneath skies filled with mayhem and conflict.