Here’s an interview over at Say It With Books — plus pictures, including a picture of my very favorite woody shrub / tree, because this interview is about balancing writing with life, and gardening is part of the “life” part.
I do hope that my tiny cuttings have made it through this grim horrible Ice-Age winter.
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Ooh magnolias! When I was growing up, I loved the (stinky!) Appalachian magnolia tripetala that looks like a tropical plant and smells like one too. Gigantic Leaves. Check. Huge, stinky flowers. Check. Drooping branches everywhere. Check. Just before I left home in NJ, I spotted a mother plant with lots of seedlings around it. I begged the homeowners to let me transplant them; they didn’t even know they had a beauty of a native tree and were happy to let me dig up 3 babies. 30 years late, those trees are now 30′ tall, though neither I nor my parents live in NJ anymore.
Now there’s one I don’t have! Even I am running out of room for the big ones. But I would undoubtedly try to score a little seedling if I happened to spot a tree with a bunch of babies, as you did.
Well, if you can’t plant M. tripetala, how about a paw paw. The notion of a tropical-like fruit growing in my back yard tickles me pink. Unfortunately, I live in an apartment in Seattle…
Got one! Unfortunately, the second of the pair died, so I really need to invest in one or two more, since paw paws are not self-fruitful.