I’m in love, I’m in love, I’m in love! We are gardeners, we fall in love, we fall out of love, and yes, we long for certain plants. Sometimes it’s a unrequited love, a love that spans decades, until finally one fateful day, the two of you meet in a crowed nursery/airport,… Wait, that’s Casablanca isn’t it? I’ve never seen it, but that’s my version of what it’s like to have a love of a plant and so rarely meet up with a good looking specimen. That’s specimen, as in a really beautifully shaped plant, not anything else. This IS a family friendly blog you know. NO hanky panky going on here! I must admit to being in love with more then one tree, at a time. Shameful of me, yes I know, but I am a gardener. We have big hearts.
I am in love with Cercis canadensis Redbud. Forest Pansy. And I have always been in love with this tree. But I have never been able to justify the cost of one, nor have I seen one suitably sized for container growing. But for the last few years, my heart has also longed for another. Yes, Cerscis canadensis covey “lavender twist.” And OH MY, am I smitten, head over heels, dizzy, and breathless, in love. These photos are of the only tree I have ever encountered in bloom. EVER! I am sure they are out there, I have just never, ever seen them for sale. Do you understand how I feel about this? Deep, unrequited love. It’s a love that might be forbidden, imagine the extreme hot, and cold climate of the Okanagan, and a tree that needs lots of water. It’s just not meant to be.
The best thing about this particular tree at the nursery? It didn’t have a price tag. I can dream big dreams, and fall in love with it, all because it doesn’t have a price tag. Thank you nursery worker for forgetting to price this tree, and not popping my bubble. It would be perfect, life would be perfect, if only. Jane