Monday, December 1, 2014

Propagation

 XV
When I consider every thing that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night,
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.  

William Shakespeare
XV

When I consider every thing that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night,
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.   - See more at: http://allpoetry.com/The-Procreation-Sonnets-(1---17)#sthash.HHgWyTD9.dpuf
XV

When I consider every thing that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night,
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.   - See more at: http://allpoetry.com/The-Procreation-Sonnets-(1---17)#sthash.HHgWyTD9.dpuf
XV

When I consider every thing that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night,
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.   - See more at: http://allpoetry.com/The-Procreation-Sonnets-(1---17)#sthash.HHgWyTD9.dpuf
XV

When I consider every thing that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night,
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.   - See more at: http://allpoetry.com/The-Procreation-Sonnets-(1---17)#sthash.HHgWyTD9.dpuf
XV

When I consider every thing that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night,
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.   - See more at: http://allpoetry.com/The-Procreation-Sonnets-(1---17)#sthash.HHgWyTD9.dpuf
XV

When I consider every thing that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night,
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.   - See more at: http://allpoetry.com/The-Procreation-Sonnets-(1---17)#sthash.HHgWyTD9.dpuf
XV

When I consider every thing that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night,
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.   - See more at: http://allpoetry.com/The-Procreation-Sonnets-(1---17)#sthash.HHgWyTD9.dpuf

XV

When I consider every thing that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night,
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.   - See more at: http://allpoetry.com/The-Procreation-Sonnets-(1---17)#sthash.HHgWyTD9.dpuf

XV

When I consider every thing that grows
Holds in perfection but a little moment,
That this huge stage presenteth nought but shows
Whereon the stars in secret influence comment;
When I perceive that men as plants increase,
Cheered and checked even by the self-same sky,
Vaunt in their youthful sap, at height decrease,
And wear their brave state out of memory;
Then the conceit of this inconstant stay
Sets you most rich in youth before my sight,
Where wasteful Time debateth with decay
To change your day of youth to sullied night,
And all in war with Time for love of you,
As he takes from you, I engraft you new.   - See more at: http://allpoetry.com/The-Procreation-Sonnets-(1---17)#sthash.HHgWyTD9.dpuf
I've been sowing seed this month. It is that time of year where the fruits of the season are just waiting to ripen and drop, or be carried off by birds or squirrels or the wind. In order to be successful in germinating these seeds, I try to pay close attention to how nature manages this for any given plant and try to replicate the process.

For example, I collected Magnolia macrophylla seed pods about 6 weeks ago. I left them to dry out a bit more, then pulled the beautiful red seeds from the pod. The red part is actually a fleshy covering that would eventually deteriorate over the course of the winter. However, if you soak the seed for a few days, the fleshy part loosens up, and you can just squeeze the seed right out of it.

So, I did just that.


After getting the seed out, I rinsed them off well, and sowed them in a container with some soil and lots of perlite and put them in the mist benches to overwinter. The perlite would give them excellent drainage so that I could make sure they were moist but not so wet that they would rot. By now it was cool outside, and I figured that the seeds would spend the cool and cold season hibernating, and then, if I was lucky, emerge with the warm weather in spring.

In about two weeks, the seed began to sprout! Obviously, cold weather played no inhibitive part in this process. In fact, after reading further about these seeds, their requirements were described as Morphophysiological Dormancy. Not only seasonal changes, but an immature embryo that required further growth (morphological) plus both cold and warm stratification periods (physiological) might inhibit germination for a period of a year or more! "Because of this complicated dormancy treatment, seeds with Morphophysiological Dormancy can be difficult to germinate for beginning gardeners." http://www.uky.edu/hort/propagation-bigleaf-magnolia
Yet for me, these seed, once shed of their coats and kept moist, came right up without the need for any other treatment. Surprise!!! Now I have to find a way to keep them from freezing in the winter months.

Likewise, a batch of white Nandina seed sown last year have just started coming up in a pot I had given up on. The seed were soaked and sown last fall. That means that they had a cold period, then an extended warm period, then back to cold. Here we are in short days and cold temps, and the nandina has started sprouting. Surprise!! Another batch of shivering seedlings to cuddle this winter.

Procreation and propagation is the basic life force that runs through all of nature. Built in to every life is the goal of continuance. I don't have an explanation for the above seedlings, but I do know that the push may have overcome whatever I did or didn't do correctly.

While I've been trying to figure out the tiny details, it seems that both my children have decided to surprise me with tiny "details " of their own. Finally, that force that makes me yearn for grandchildren has now caught up with BOTH of my children. We should be showing off some beautiful little propagules next spring and summer. That seems to me about perfect timing. Surprise!!

"The word "miracle" aptly describes a seed."
-  Jack Kramer