Gifts of nature

1.The gardener

There was a man who grew plants in his small garden as a hobby. As time passed, he grew more and more skilled at it, and the hobby that once started with one shaggy ficus found on the street continued to grow into a more complex collection, that featured many types of plants. Our man very soon realized that what is perfect for one plant is even deadly for another kind. After some mishaps, he started paying more attention to each plants´ requirements, in order to provide them with a decent living. Slowly, as seasons passed, he got used to interpreting the plants´ subtle signals so that he could tell exactly on which date his wild chrisantemums were going to bloom fully, or the right amount of water the cacti were needing for the following week. When asked, he defined this skill as "listening to the plants´ needs"

As you probably realize, the hobby proggesively took up more and more space in the mans´ home. He grew the plants out of his yard, on small pots and on the ground. Soon enough, he had more plants than what could fit in his small garden, and also on the bedroom, bathroom and balcony. He came to a breaking point, when he realized he could no longer shower because the giant potus that he was so fond of had taken over the shower. Sadly he realized the time had come, for him to start giving his very beloved collection away.


2.The garden talks

After a week of not taking a decent shower due to the plant, he was ready for the first giveaway. 

The first one he gave to his mother. A small shrub of gingko in a beautiful blue pot, a son of the oldest gingko tree in his city he had picked some years ago as a tiny sprout. At first he was very sad to give the teenager plant away. He had raised it and was attached to it. But then, as ha saw her mothers´ face smiling -or grinning as other people say-, he knew this was the correct thing to do.

Mothers tend to be motherly, so it was an overall safe bet to say the ginkgo would be taken care of. But what about the rest of the plants? He was very concerned that the plants would find a suitable owner. He thought about this issue long and hard, and came to the conclussion that good friends can also make for horrendous gardeners, and he did not want to send his plants somewhere not fit. While reflecting on what to do next, he spent a good deal of time every afternoon looking at each plant, feeling it, growing in unity with it. 

And a very important thing ocurred. Slowly he began to understand how simple the solution actually was. The plants were being very clear about their wishes every time. He only had to listen.
They usually said basic things, like "less water" "more sun". Paying more attention to the detail, the gardener increasingly started to pick up more complex messages, such as a whispery "I like you"  when he passed by, or the sudden change in energy that meant "Please take away the person that smokes next to me". He already knew the plants were very much alive, but he was surprised to realize how much they actually perceived from the sorroundings and reacted to it.

He reasoned, the plants know what is good for them,  so in order to find a suitable owner he he just needed to listen out in the very special way he had been developing. He realized talking to a plant makes little sense. Plants talk the language of nature, that has a pace of its own. Our man spent entire afternoons subtly blowing on the cactus, feeling the primitive big leafed bracken as it opens due to the sun, closing the eyes as the echeverias suck up the small delicious drops of water. Thanks to his patience, he could recreate the moves of the rose as it blossomed over the weeks. He actually got to develop some back and forth communication with his plants. He usually asked about news from the sorroundings, stories that the plants heard from the bees or the birds. The jade plant was actually one of the best storytellers he knew, as that was a branch of a very old plant that came with a family from Asia to Buenos Aires in the beginning of the 20th century. It was very wise and knew the languages of insects, of birds and of wind.

Sadly the overpopulation problem was getting rather critical as spring gave way to summer. Even if it meant disrupting his beloved garden, and he could already hear voices of despair, it was time to act. 


3.The time to give

One rainy day, he felt Nature was giving him permission to give away his plants. As he had planned, he was going to give them over to friends. But it was not that the friend could choose the plant, the plant had to choose them, as he had agreed with Nature herself. He had been explained that a plant given a as a gift can be a strong protection for the house and the people. So he invited people over, and waited on the plants to give a signal that they liked the person. Before giving each plant away, the man prayed so that the plants would remain safe, and in case of emergency they would come back to him.

After a while, his garden was manageable again. And every now and then, he heard new stories that the birds told the jade plant, about the baby willow that now overlooked a big garden where childrens played, about the blooming of the echeverrias, or the funny yet lovely relation between a lavender and a spunky aloe. The gardener realized that he had done correctly in letting go off the plants. They needed to fulfill their destiny, and the gardeners role, is only to propiciate it. Nature dislikes egoism.