A conversation with my ranunculus

Are plants better people? Yes, probably.

Imagine for a moment that I’m the type of person inclined to have an extended conversation with my ranunculus. A ranunculus being, for the non-gardeners out there, a plant. A flower.

I’m not saying I am such a person, one who talks to their plants at length. I’m just asking you to imagine it so. How would that conversation go, with the plant I have never raised before and therefore had to Google what it would look like when it came up to distinguish it from the abundant weeds? A plant I had almost given up on by mid-June, my gardener friend having gently suggested that the window for ranunculus to bloom had already passed. What would I say to the plant I had, in the face of this disappointment, given up on a bit and allowed the weeds to envelop?

We can’t know for sure, but here’s how it might have gone:

Me: Oh, you’ve bloomed. You’ve bloomed after all.

Ranunculus: …

Me: It is never too late and I certainly don’t want you to think that your only worth is in the blooming, but let me just get those weeds out of the way now.

Ranunculus: …

Me: I am grateful. So very grateful. And amazed. Did I mention how amazed I am? I don’t know how you plants manage it. It’s quite the miracle.

Ranunculus: …

Me: Yes, the gladiolas are next on the to-weed list. They don’t look promising, but anything is possible, isn’t it?

Ranunculus: …

Me: It is very likely true that humans are rather weak and fragile compared to plants. That perhaps we give up too easily. We assume the world is against us when the truth is, the world just doesn’t care. It’s not about us at all.

Ranunculus: …

Me: Yes, yes. Okay. You’re right. If you can bloom in the face of utter neglect and rejection, so can I.