Mayo Clinic Flower of Hope

Randomly Me
Jul 25, 2017 · 3 min read
Not my photo, or my plant, unfortunately.

To celebrate my first official Monday of summer break, I headed to the garden center. I’d had a gift card burning a hole in my pocket for months, and it was time to go on a mini-shopping spree. After so much deliberation, I thought I had come up with the perfect wish list— silky lambs ears for my favorite little girl, a woodland plant to brighten the path by the creek, and a ‘Moonbeam’ Coreopsis because it would look great in the ever-evolving rock garden…and since it’s practically foolproof, perfect for someone who kills plants that actually require care.

I found the velvety lambs ears right away, an old favorite I used to grow years ago before it mysteriously disappeared. I already had the perfect place picked out, too, a spot where Little K would have to do a little rock climbing to reach them.

No such luck with the woodland plants, though. The salesperson looked at me like I had three heads when I finally asked about them, so I decided they could wait for another day.

They didn’t have the ‘Moonbeam’ either, but they did have a brighter yellow variety Coreopsis called the ‘Mayo Clinic Flower of Hope.’ I had never heard of it, but figured, what the heck? How can you kill the flower of hope?

I walked out of there with those two perennials, a few annuals, and ten dollars left on the gift card for the next trip. Not too shabby.

I went home right away and Googled Mayo Clinic Flower of Hope (because the next best thing to having new flowers is reading about them), and it was pretty interesting. Apparently, the powers that be at the Mayo Clinic believe that the enjoyment of nature is important for healing. (Ya think?) So, for their sesquicentennial in 2014, they set out to find one plant that would thrive at every one of their locations, no matter the climate…Minnesota, Arizona, Florida, Iowa and Wisconsin. In the end, they selected this new-at-the-time coreopsis, because they felt it represented the spirit of hope in healing. (From what I understand, the Mayo Clinic gets no proceeds from the sale of this plant, by the way.)

Long story short, my Mayo Clinic Flower of Hope is no longer with us. After several attempts, some kind of underground varmint finally succeeded in destroying it.

Which just goes to show, you should never get too attached.

On the other hand, one of the annuals, Salvia ‘Black and Bloom’ is my new favorite purple annual of all time. Carefree, gorgeous, and a magnet for hummingbirds. How can you not love that? Now, I’m praying it reseeds all over the place.

‘Black and Bloom.’ Not my photo either, but a good likeness.

And, speaking of gardening excitement, I finally got John Markowski’s book, Perennials Through the Seasons. I read it from cover to cover within the first few days (it took me that long because I was trying to savor it). I love it because it’s not the usual list of most popular perennials. He includes a wide variety of plants, each with a story, growing suggestions and tips, and plenty of pictures. It’s entertaining and educational. I laughed quite a bit, and learned several things I didn’t know, even about plants I’ve owned for years. (For instance, I had no idea that the bottom third of the veronica plant turned brown as a rule…I thought it was just me!)

He sums up my feelings about gardening so eloquently with words like obsessive, neurotic, and swoon, but especially with these paragraphs on page 59:

The garden is a place of peace. A place of tranquility. It is where we connect with our earth.

It is also where I get stressed and curse myself and battle demons. There is an ongoing tug of war between my need for control and order, and my love of wild or controlled chaos. I pull from both ends, depending on the day.

Amen, John.

Randomly Me

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When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be. ~Lao Tzu

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