After some good rains in the past month, the hillside is greening once more. The heat of the summer had dried up all the brush and browned the landscape. The plant life is now celebrating the arrival of winter rains with vigour. On this cool morning, I was on my way home after a pleasant stroll enjoying all the shades of green.
When I reached home, something in the porch caught my eye. For weeks I had been looking at the completely dried up potted braided ficus plant with some guilt. Somehow or other, I had neglected it and it had died. All the leaves were dry and brown. One by one they were dropping off. The branches were dry enough to be snapped off. But today I was surprised to see a little green shoot from the bottom of the stem. I thought it was a weed which had found a foothold in the pot but no, incredibly the ficus was reviving. I had seen a couple of big trees being cut down in the neighbourhood in the last two months and that was a sad thing to see. The revival of this little plant seemed a small consolation for that.
In the following days, the plant started putting out more and more leaves and just like that the new shoots covered the main trunk from top to bottom. The ficus is said to be temperamental. I have read that if you move the plant to a new location, the shock could cause it to wither. But I guess this little tree is more resilient than that.
Life is persistent and vigorous. Given the slightest encouragement, plants will sprout anywhere. This past year, we had a good deal of rain. As a result the desert put out a spectacular display of wildflowers in spring as you can see in this picture below where the usual desolate brown earth had been replaced by a yellow carpet. The seeds lie dormant in the desert soil and burst into life every once in a few years when rains are plenty and occur at the right time. 2019 was one such year. The desert super bloom as it was called was quite impressive. The California poppies too had a bumper season and their display simply took one's breath away. If the rainy trend continues, we may be looking at another year of such blooms.
The more I think about plants the more I feel they are magical. I mean, they convert air, light and water into stalk, trunk, branch, leaves, flowers and fruits. Some trees grow hundreds of feet tall on just air and water. Plants are at the start of the food chain and nourish and sustain everything else. Even a log from a dead tree on the forest floor supports teeming insect colonies.
No wonder Krishna was moved to say (Srimad Bhagavatham 10.22 Verses 33-35), 'Look how these trees support every living entity! Like noble souls, they willingly give to those who seek everything they have - leaves, flowers, fruits, shade, roots, bark and wood. Also, fragrance, sap, shoots, and even ashes. Everyone should emulate their behaviour towards other living beings with one's life, wealth, intelligence and words'.
Trees are some of the oldest living things on earth. Some can live for 3000 years or even longer. The massive redwoods and sequoias in California are a good example. They are also among the largest. They can grow to more than 250 feet with the first branch at 80 feet and can be as thick as 30 feet in diameter. It can take a day and a half for water to reach the top branches from the roots. All this growth comes from water and air for the earth beneath does not get depleted as the tree grows. Think about it. Just light, air, and water! And you get these giants. What more can I say?
Banyan trees do not grow as tall as the redwoods but a single tree can spread over several acres. It is clearly not a tree for your backyard unless you want your house to be swallowed up! There are examples of banyans growing around structures pretty much covering them. In fact, the tree starts life with its little seed germinating in a crevice on a host tree. And as it grows, it often completely covers the host pretty much smothering it. For this reason, the banyan is also known as the strangler fig.
Yes, the banyan does belong to the ficus family as does the little plant in the pot in my porch. I am going to leave it in the pot just to be safe.
When I reached home, something in the porch caught my eye. For weeks I had been looking at the completely dried up potted braided ficus plant with some guilt. Somehow or other, I had neglected it and it had died. All the leaves were dry and brown. One by one they were dropping off. The branches were dry enough to be snapped off. But today I was surprised to see a little green shoot from the bottom of the stem. I thought it was a weed which had found a foothold in the pot but no, incredibly the ficus was reviving. I had seen a couple of big trees being cut down in the neighbourhood in the last two months and that was a sad thing to see. The revival of this little plant seemed a small consolation for that.
In the following days, the plant started putting out more and more leaves and just like that the new shoots covered the main trunk from top to bottom. The ficus is said to be temperamental. I have read that if you move the plant to a new location, the shock could cause it to wither. But I guess this little tree is more resilient than that.
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| Desert in Bloom |
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| California Poppies |
No wonder Krishna was moved to say (Srimad Bhagavatham 10.22 Verses 33-35), 'Look how these trees support every living entity! Like noble souls, they willingly give to those who seek everything they have - leaves, flowers, fruits, shade, roots, bark and wood. Also, fragrance, sap, shoots, and even ashes. Everyone should emulate their behaviour towards other living beings with one's life, wealth, intelligence and words'.
Trees are some of the oldest living things on earth. Some can live for 3000 years or even longer. The massive redwoods and sequoias in California are a good example. They are also among the largest. They can grow to more than 250 feet with the first branch at 80 feet and can be as thick as 30 feet in diameter. It can take a day and a half for water to reach the top branches from the roots. All this growth comes from water and air for the earth beneath does not get depleted as the tree grows. Think about it. Just light, air, and water! And you get these giants. What more can I say?
Banyan trees do not grow as tall as the redwoods but a single tree can spread over several acres. It is clearly not a tree for your backyard unless you want your house to be swallowed up! There are examples of banyans growing around structures pretty much covering them. In fact, the tree starts life with its little seed germinating in a crevice on a host tree. And as it grows, it often completely covers the host pretty much smothering it. For this reason, the banyan is also known as the strangler fig.
Yes, the banyan does belong to the ficus family as does the little plant in the pot in my porch. I am going to leave it in the pot just to be safe.
