The Power Of Nature

Mother Nature often takes center stage of the evening news, particularly when someone or something is incurring its wrath. Hurricanes, freezes, floods, and blizzards, oh my! Examples of each around the globe (some locally) grabbed headlines and major air time all within the last month. These kinds of events are hard to ignore (bloated news feeds or not).
Of course, you don’t necessarily need a large-scale show of power from nature to evoke the occasional ooohh and/or aaahh. Those in the field of horticulture know this well. A simple bloom at the right time can make a grower's day.

Thanks to a recent lunch outing, I can provide a firsthand example of this: The other day, my co-workers and I noticed a strange-looking mark on the side of a landscape tree adjacent to the gas station we had pulled into. While our associate was filling his tires with air, a couple of us got out for a closer look. Upon further review, the mark actually was an open wound revealing remnants of what looked to be a make-shift tree brace … er or garden hose … from years gone by. It does appear the mature holly is winning the battle against its once rubber and plastic shackles though. Hell, blur your eyes a little and it kinda looks like snake-skinned smile. Almost like the specimen is getting the last laugh.

Scanning over a nearby tree, a similar situation was playing out with another type of guying implement. All in all, both trees appeared to be healthy. Not sure if their “permanent additions” will do them any harm down the road. Time will tell.

Our main takeaway as we drove back to the office: Nature finds a way. Whether it’s a Sabal palm punching its fronds up through sealed blacktop next to the roadway, a runaway jasmine vine that totally engulfs a fence, or a tree that literally covers up a landscape mistake, it’s impressive---even if it’s not headline news fodder.