Political Gardening

 

Do you have a left wing or right wing garden?  Is it in a red or blue state of composition?  Does it lean westward Republican or is it an eastern Democrat?  Is it showing signs of tea parties?  Is it in a bed with the conservative drummer or the liberal trumpet?  Are the weeds winning over the perennials?

As the political rhetoric bounces between facts and the far side of the moon, it begs to be compared to gardening.  How so you ask?  Ok, Ok, it was me who asked, but, if you’re still reading then you’re marginally interested in this very important election year topic.

The conservatives are holding their own well into election month.  Coreopsis “Moonbeam”, bachelor buttons, and the late Senator Everett Dirksen’s favorite, marigolds, are still blooming in spite of low night temperatures and poll results.

Liberals are busy self seeding hither and yon such as Toad Lilies, Red Bud trees, and Shasta daisies.

Last survey showed the Knock Out Rose, Burning Bush, and ornamental pear heavily situated in the state of red.  Blue has been pretty much knocked out of the race except for the stately Blue Spruce.

The left side of my garden is towards the West and is hunkering down for the first frigid winds of winter: forming a snow fence of representative pines.  The right side is forever into new things and must be protected from winter’s blast as they get established.

We had several tea (or wine) parties this summer and at our age most were moderate to conservative. 

It’ll soon be time to reflect on what campaign methods were winners and which ones contributed to the loss.  I’m sure watering my garden was a campaign call that was both successful and expensive.  Campaign donations were lacking considerably during the hot dry summer.

Some aggressive campaigning worked against the weeds but we found out early in this project, “You may think you have won the voters but as soon as you turn your back a new weed has made itself home.”

Right winged insects were in abundance and left wings did their best to match the rhetoric.

As we soon lay this election to rest, we may want to take a moment to compare our voting in the local, state and national elections to how we manage our gardens.  Get the facts, pull out the weeds, encourage the righteous, and decide what will actually improve our space over the coming years.  Don’t shovel so much manure that the flowers can’t get through. 

With all that, take this one cautionary note:  If you do nothing in your garden for fear of doing something wrong, it will guarantee something goes wrong.  Good advice for voting, too.

 
(Photos are taken of this morning's early sunrise.)