Invasion of the Blobs!

It is truly rewarding to see Nature’s beauty abundantly displayed and at the same time restrained in neat little containers. Beauty in restraint reflects what I perceive as the natural order of the universe. Of course container gardens require a different type of maintenance than ground based gardens. Like any beauty in restraint, there are demands that must be attended to if there is to be flourishing. In the case of containers, regular watering takes on a whole new meaning.

I introduced something new to reduce the chore of watering this year. On the advice of a friend who is very knowledgeable in such matters, I made sure that the soil in all of my containers had “Soil Moist” granules amply mixed in. Now this is an amazing product. The jar contains tiny little plastic bags each containing lots of little tiny white things, each about a quarter of the size of a grain of rice. The theory behind this product is that when one waters a plant, the little granules absorb and hold water to prevent the plants from drying out too quickly. To my mind, this seemed to be an excellent idea.

Because this weekend was the May long weekend, I did as every hard-core gardener does, I put in my garden. Mother Nature was gracious enough to provide a 2-hour window of rain-free weather in the early afternoon to assist me. After everything was planted, I applied a first watering. All was well. Then Mother Nature decided to help me along with some watering of her own. I am always grateful to Mother Nature when she decides to help me with the watering. She helped the rest of the day. In the early evening, I took a look at my new garden. I noticed tiny little clear things peeking through the soil. At first glance they could have been easily missed. I quickly surmised that they were the wonderful little granules doing their thing. All was right with the world, I thought. It continued to rain all night.

I awoke in the morning and visited my garden. Imagine my shock at seeing all of my containers being taken over by THE BLOBS!! I discovered that each of these tiny little crystals, one quarter the size of a grain of rice had grown to the size of a large ice cube. THE BLOBS were taking over! Some had risen out of the soil and fallen on to the deck. I scanned the morning news for any stories of missing small animals or children. I carefully observed the blobs on the deck to see if they showed any signs of movement, if they made any sounds or if they glowed. The blobs appeared to be benign. I gingerly picked up the escaping blobs and placed them back in the pots. We simply cannot have homeless blobs running around.

The soil in my containers looked as if there were ice crystals sprinkled on them, rather large ice crystals. I quickly phoned my friend who had told me about these things. She has assured me that all is in order with THE BLOBS. As the weather and soil dries, they will shrink back down and hide in the soil. They will plump up and shrink down very obediently (I like that word, obedience) for about 5 years when they have to be replaced. In the meantime, I can get to know the newest members of my garden family, THE BLOBS. Stay tuned for further adventures.