The “Unconstant” Gardener

I happened to watch the 2005 film, The Constant Gardener this summer. In this movie, Ralph Fiennes’ character continues to be a loyal caretaker of his plants through all the ups and downs life has to offer him. The name of the movie certainly got me thinking. This summer I’ve been the exact opposite of Ralph’s character, I’ve been an “unconstant” gardener.

Summer started with a bang. Lots of travel, lots of work and a BIG continuing shortage of water in California. The latter gave me an excuse to not water my plants often. My plants went without water for 6–10 days at a stretch. Some part of me felt guilty about ignoring my “green” friends. Other part of me felt happy to not contribute to the water woes.

Every time I’d step out to water my plants, expecting to see more brown and very little green, I’d be surprised to see not only green and some brown; but also a lot of pink, red, white and purple. The gardener in me would be thrilled to see the plants very much alive. The conservationist side of me would be confused, why aren’t my plants dead yet? This went on pretty much all summer. Family and friends pitched in occasionally to water when we were traveling for an extended period of time. But come end of summer, there were hardly any dead plants! Questions like how are my plants still alive, how are the lilies still flowering, etc would race through my mind.

Then it struck me….the plants were simply doing what they were meant to do… GROW ! They adapted to the changes in external influences like less water, more sun, high temperatures, no food and no care. They relentlessly continued to grow.

That right there, in my garden, was a life lesson. If we as individuals, continue to work hard at what we are wired/educated to do or passionate about, only good things will come out of it. If these plants can do it and survive, so can we :)