It's Earth Day.Over the weekend, W. and I went to a local nursery to get a birthday present for his mother. One thing led to another, and we ended up coming home with a star magnolia. We dug a great hole, enriched the dirt with good black compost from the town dump, and watered it well. More than most of the other things I've planted around my house, that magnolia stellata feels like a permanent addition to the landscape, probably because it's the first time we've bought a balled and burlapped shrub. Usually, I'm cheap and buy tiny little perennials by mail order, or dig things up at my mother's house and shlep them home, or I just rearrange the shrubbery that came with the house. I hope it thrives.
In addition to planting my own little tree at home, I helped plant ten trees afar. Julie's started a campaign through the Nature Conservancy, which you can participate in by clicking on that widget to the left. Or click back to Julie's and do it through there.
If you don't want to get your hands dirty, and you don't have any money to send to the Nature Conservancy, join Al Gore's We Can Solve It campaign.
Or share another suggestion in the comments.
Kid Art Auction for Earth Day! Bid ... or just spread the word.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.greeblemonkey.com/2008/04/oi-last-day-to-bid.html
Planting things is so hopeful.
ReplyDeleteWe're spending an afternoon this weekend picking up the horrifying amounts of trash that have collected on the street that wends through the woods to our house. But I guess that will require dirty hands.
I'm so glad you posted this! What a beautiful magnolia :-)
ReplyDeleteI think I might leave my husband for Al Gore. Al Gore knows nothing of this.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the plug! And the generosity!
ReplyDeleteAnd I know what you mean about the magnolia. I felt similarly after we planted our memorial garden.
My dad is fulfilling our entire families tree planting quota. He is known as "The Tree Man of the Central Coast." Seriously, like in newspaper articles.
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ReplyDeleteAnd don't forget World Naked Gardening Day on May 3rd.....I was just discussing it over at my place!
ReplyDeleteI plant trees often - they're among the few things I can plant without killing them off. Yesterday, the Evil Genius and I planted some Morning Glory seeds in one patch of Earth, and decided to relocate some ants before we plant in another. We also put seeds in empty planters and then sparingly watered it all (still in a drought, must hand water everything).
ReplyDeleteThis afternoon, he's planting a tree in the woods with his father (some variety of pine which looks rather like a fluffy green stick just now but will probably grow into a monster in the next hundred years)
In Italy, people used to plant olive trees, understanding that the trees wouldn't bear fruit for a hundred years or so - but they didn't mind knowing they'd planted something for their grandchildren's future and not their own. Beautiful, no?
Shade and Sweetwater,
K