I Discovered A New Plant!

Have you stargaze of having a plant diagnose after you?Buddleia ‘ Bubbah ’s Blush’orMarrubium ‘ Mandy ’s Madness ’ , perhaps ?

Perhaps my time has number .

Tennisia goodnickii ‘ Cool Green Gardens’has a nice swing . Not that I ’ll do the final naming of the never - before - see tree in my new client ’s garden . Okay , it was n’t a whole tree , but you ’ll see what I have in mind .

At first , the order of magnitude of my discovery did n’t compute . I was at a customer ’s property dragging a measuring tape with my right hand , scribblingnumbers with my odd , and picture - recording with the other .

I limboed under a downhearted - slung limb of a coast sequoia , glanced down and noticed a half - bury lawn tennis ball . My client own a few Black Labradors who are fond of fetching , so nothing seemed unusual .

The furry covering on the ball was worn , but still seeable . It was dirty and in all probability soak in spit - borne doggie DNA . But for some reason , I bent and picked it up .

The ball resisted . It resisteda lot .

“ Maybe it sprouted tooth root , ” joke one of the voice in my straits . It was Shecky , the comic , doing his Bullwinkle Moose voice .

“ Nonsense ! ” I say aloud , in a dismissive tone . I deplumate a piece hard and hear the strait all gardener sleep with as rootlets pop , pop , popped like a bubble wrapper yoga mat .

I asterisk at the crustlike orb in my hand . go roots diversify from the bottom . Though additional research and scientific stuff was probably in society , the implication were clear : I had discovered the germinating seed of a tennis ball tree . I ’ll be famous ! I ’ll pack public lecture halls around the humans and be host by delegations of noted botanists .

“ Not so tight . ” Shecky lean to butt in without raising his helping hand . “ If it ’s growing roots , where ’s the stem ? Where are thecotyledons ? ” ( Shecky give more attending in botany class thanthisC - student . )

He had a point . As any third - grader who ’s spud a bonce seed for their science task remembers , the stem of a newborn plant life commonly make an appearance before the roots .

What had moments ago begun as an Icarus - similar ascension to the heights of glory crashed , as the white - hot rays of logical system melted my tenuous wings of hope .

On closemouthed inspection it became clear that there was a simpler , though less aphrodisiac explanation . Here ’s my theory :

1.The man project a man - made lawn tennis chunk across the lawn , into an overgrown coppice ofCarissa grandiflora ‘ Green Carpet’(Natal plum tree , recognize for its viciously forked back poke from between the twig ) .

2.The frenzied Black Lab leap after the ball . lose sight of its quarry , the dog switches to nostril way , hoping to sniff out the ball . OUCH ! “ nozzle piercings might be all the rage for twenty - somethings , but I ’m out of here . ”

3.Over time , the elements dry out the lively walls of the ballock causing it to dissever . Soil and debris replete the void .

4.Within a few week athirst roots spread out into the egg , creating the impression of a root system .

Damn that rational , Spock - alike lobe of my brain ! Why does there always have to be a logical account ?

renown slipped my grasp as quickly as it arrive . There will be no tickertape parade down Broadway and no sumptuousness suites at the one-year calling together of the Royal Horticultural Society . If fame is to be mine , I ’ll have to pull in it the old - fashion way - catch by paparazzo in a drug - wooly-minded Rodeo Drive daze in the caller of Lindsay Lohan .

Fine Gardening Recommended product

A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo

Fine horticulture receives a commission for token purchased through links on this site , include Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs .

Get our latest tips , how - to articles , and instructional videos sent to your inbox .

Signing you up …

New Orleans Vegetable Trials Yield Big Results

Plant these Vegetable Winners for Garden Success

New Bean Adds to Fall Planting

New Book for Vertical Vegetable Gardening

Join okay Gardening for a free engaging live webinar featuring Dr. Janna Beckerman , a far-famed plant life diagnostician as well as professor emerita at Purdue University and the ornamental proficient manager …

When I spy a particular backbone dollar cactus ( Astrophytum asterias ) at the Philadelphia Flower Show a few months ago , I knew I was in bother . With a delicious coloration pattern …

When we only prioritise flora we need over plants our landscape painting needs , each time of year is replete with a never - ending list of chores : pruning , pinch , watering , treating , better , and fertilizing , with …

redwood

Video

Touring an Eco-friendly, Shady Backyard Retreat

You must be deliberate when you get in the backyard of garden designer Jeff Epping — not because you ’re potential to spark on something , but because you might be dive - bombed by a brace …