Orphan Plant Garden

My eighty-six year old brother has a hobby of sorts; really it's more like a rescue center for orphaned plants. First it was just this odd plant here and there; you know the kind you stumble upon on trash day that someone has thrown out. The ones that you take a look at and say to yourself, "There's nothing wrong with this plant, it just needs a little TLC." So you pick it up and take it home, maybe tidy up the dead leaves and give it a new pot and some fresh soil. Soon it looks like it could win the Garden Club Prize.

He has been doing this for years, even becoming the go to source for neighbors moving and unable to take their plants with them. His garden grew, soon covering almost every inch of his small apartment patio. He revealed to me that he does indeed have lengthy conversations with these botanical orphans as he care takes his garden. I can just picture him deep in conversation, perhaps even taken away to one of the many spots he has traveled to over the years, explaining to each the joy of this place or that. How much they would enjoy the sun in Spain or a misty morning in Manchester.

Now it is my brother's turn to move and this event has him looking for good homes and proper parents for all his little orphans. I'm not sure how detailed the interview process is for these perspective new parents but I can assure you he would not allow one of his orphans to end up in a bad home. When he wrote me last week he mentioned that the last massive ivy trellis went out the door with its new plant parents just that morning. To the home of a University of California professor no less, should be in good hands indeed.

Soon my brother will be in his new location and once he is settled in I bet it won't take him long to start all over again with a new orphan plant garden. Really all it takes is a stroll down the street on trash pickup day and you are sure to stumble upon at least one tiny little orphan calling your name.