Nature’s determination
Oneness
This grass tree Xanthorrhoea is in our back garden space in pride of place, carefully transferred from the pot it came in from a registered nursery. They can only be legally harvested and on sold by these nurseries in Australia. Most clandestine acquisitions don’t last in suburbia the story goes.
We have followed the care and nurture instructions from the nursery and yet after about 15 months the centre spike fell off and the leaves began to yellow. We revisited the nursery after I had done some internet reading and have now added organic native soil, intensive watering and a fish based organic fertiliser. We will see what happens.
Hidden behind the base of the main trunk however is a small new emerging trunk, just visible at ground level and in that trunk are two or three green shoots. Is it possible that this remarkable tree is not dying but has determined to try again?
Paul the nurseryman told me that plants want to live and that they have an inbuilt genetic determination. What we know of the grass tree is that it is slow growing, can be around for hundreds of years and responds with pizzaz after bushfires! That’s one option we do not want to invite in while feeling slightly more optimistic about the next few years and this particular Xanthorrhoea.
I remember that my mother who died in 2019 at 95.5 years was if nothing else as part of an Irish American immigrant family – determined! Full of life and giftedness she had stories of more than one metaphorical bushfire, affliction and success. I see this in my wife and children and now in grandchildren – the shadows of grief, making a satisfying living, aging and the multiple challenges of adolescent development. There is a determination for me to note, nurture and embrace with a constant reminder in the grass tree I see each time I go to my studio.
Peter Breen
Peteskibreen's Blog 