On Wednesday, I got home from taking a friend to the hospital for a procedure to find 450 native plants sitting on my porch. My eldest son, Nate, had placed an order for his native plant company, Mississippi Woodland Nursery (on IG @mississippiwoodlandnursery or @p_almoni). He’s a sophomore at MS State University, and he started his business last summer to scratch the itch that really is an obsession.
Nate’s tendency to obsess about…things… began at an early age. First, it was Thomas the Tank Engine. Then it was Star Wars. He could’ve won Jeopardy if the only subject matter was Star Wars. Then it was non-domesticated animals (he would give us an encyclopedia-length dissertation on the animals at any zoo we visited before we had time to read any placards).
Then it was bugs. He says it still is bugs. But bugs disappear during the winter, so his attention got snagged on plants. AND bugs that are good for the environment require NATIVE plants….
Anyway, I gave him a section of my backyard where nothing would grow to do some experimenting. I begged him not to plant weeds! Instead, he humored me with oak leaf hydrangea, native ferns, local iris varieties, wild strawberries, Turk’s cap, and a host of other hardy plants that thrive in the shade.
So I gave him another section of the yard to plant sun-loving natives. The coneflower blows my mind in the summer!
Then I gave him the berm that is mostly clay and bakes in the sun all day long. Nothing had survived the harsh location in the five years we’d lived in our current home. He planted yucca, Texas sage, grasses, and daylilies. He even tried Lamb’s Ear, which has thoroughly enjoyed the location.
He came home for Easter break this weekend, thank the LORD! He will be busy planting and re-potting plants, I imagine. He also will be my partner-in-crime to figure out how to cover a huge square of lawn that is missing lawn after the pallet we ordered last year didn’t quite get it. Hubby trusts us now, and the garden centers are calling my name on this gorgeous Spring day.
I hope you have a glorious Easter celebration this weekend and are able to get outside and enjoy the Spring days ahead.
