BY JULLIE Y. DAZA
WHEN my friend sent her brother to Bulacan to buy some garden soil, neither she nor he was prepared for the volume of cars going in and out and parked in the nearest vacant lot.
When Carl Balita, entrepreneur and entrepreneurial coach, advised his viewers to think of plants as the best gift to give come December, he added fuel to the green fire that some quarters have dubbed a plantdemic (which in turn has given birth to a tribe of plantnappers).
Why the overnight fondness for plants? Palawan, the last frontier, long the haven of botanists and hunters looking for virgin species – how long before the province loses its unique, living jewels? They’ve just discovered a new plant specimen on Mt. Arayat, Pampanga. Look at Baguio, the summer capital and honeymooners’ honey pot, where street sweepers have been caught on CCTV robbing streets and parks of their flowering plants, in broad daylight. Stealing is a crime, whether the thief is a horticulturist or a low-salaried worker.
People steal because the stolen goods have value. For starters, one plant of the current craze by the name of Monsterosa deliciosa costs a minimum of P25,000, enough to feed a family for one month, but the loss of which could give its collector-keeper one day of unmitigated migraine attacks. This valuable advice from my friend, a true gardener whose next step is to convert one part of her flowering garden into a vegetable patch, in keeping with the needs of the times: “Expensive plants don’t live long.”
In other words, be prepared to grieve. A book about plants that I retrieved for rereading during the lockdown assured me that the most common plants, even certain weeds – and I have found one such, a lacey beauty in my own little green corner – are by themselves beautiful.
Carl’s tip is as practical as it is good for the soul. For the giver to know that his gi will give the receiver something to do during the idle hours. For the receiver to be given a living thing, like a baby, to take care of – right amount of sun, shade, soil, water, air – and then to watch it grow, like a baby. Works like a charm, both ways!
