Friday, November 14, 2008

If I weren't Afraid I Would........

Well here it goes, Thanks Roxanne for the push.

If I weren't afraid I would .....go back to school and get a degree in Ornamental Horticulture.

I found my love with plants years ago.

There are so many different varieties, textures,
smells, leaf shapes, stems shapes, sizes, thicknesses, not to mention colors of flowers.
Have you ever looked at the flower of a Oleander.
Yeah, I know that does not sound to exciting does it. An Oleander.
Well look at the inside of the flower. The shape of the flower its self it trumpet shaped. The inside depending on the variety is; say, white on the outside with a yellow inside where the stamen is.

Then there are trees, boy, the list could go on forever there. Just trees alone is incredible.

The sizes, shapes of the trunks, the type of wood, the skin color, does it have a heavy coarse bark, does it peel away, is it multi-colored.

Then lets talk leaf shapes and sizes. Some have single veins, some have a palmatte shape, some are "oak tree shaped". some are long and linear, some have rounded edges, some have ridged edges. Some have noddles on the back of the leaf, kinda look like spores.
In the fall some are yellow, some are red, orange, some are just brown or golden.
Some tress are evergreens.

Then you can get in to the root systems. Wow, some have tap roots, that can grow has long at the tree is high, some have surface roots or are shallow rooted, some have very deep roots.
Some trees have roots that spread out and travel quite aways.

Then there are the conifers, man there are a bazillion varieties there.
Cone sizes, shapes, even the needles of the trees are different. It is amazing.
Some are round, some are oval, or cone shaped, some are long and linear, some have smooth edges, others have rough sharp edges.

Oh, I have not even talked about grasses.

Again, there are so many different varieties, from lawn grasses to tall shrub like grasses to even Corn. Yeah, I bet you didn't know that.

Then of course, lets not forget about the Rose. Now there is a list to look at.

There are so many different species of plants it is amazing. To be able to travel the world just to be able to enjoy what this planet has to offer in natural beauty. What an incredible gift.

My ultimate goal was to be an Arborist.
Learning about diseases, how to prevent them, what causes them, and how to cure them.

So my fear, is my age, and not being able to afford the journey.
Not being able to complete the task at hand. I started once, and wasn't able to continue because of finances.
Then again, I was letting others make the decisions for me. I guess I still am.

1 comment:

Roxanne Green said...


What a passionate topic for you. You've given me an education here.

I can't say I share your enthusiasm as I have a black thumb but that's ok. That's why it's called YOUR enthusiasm and passion.

My mother once told me that "no one can kill a spider plant". HA - little did she know. ;-)

I wish you the best. Follow your dreams.