Plants Do It

Want berries?! Get a Prince and 4 or 5 Princesses!” This was the text of a sign I saw stuck in a pot of holly last week. It reminded of that old song, “Birds do it, bees do it, even educated fleas do it . . .” The song is about falling in love, but, well, um, you know what else I’m talking about.

The sign instantly brought me back to my first attempt at growing blueberries. My blueberries seemed barren – no berries. I mentioned this to Pa Jondahl, who laughed and told me I needed to get a boy plant because my plants needed to have “s-e-x.” I’d had no idea! Obviously. How helpful it would have been, all those years ago, if there had been a sign in the blueberry pots telling me I needed a male plant along with all those female plants I’d purchased!

Today is Ma Jondahl’s birthday. She would have been 86. One of my favorite memories of her is making fruit jerkey (a dried fruit strip product) and talking about random things. One day, she told us with her wry smile, “Being pregnant’s a b*tch. . . . but, gettin’ there’s okay.”

Monday was Ma and Pa’s wedding anniversary. I’m thinking about both of them today – a couple who spoke frankly about human and plant s-e-x. It seems so random that one sign can churn up so many memories, but there it is. And, remember, if you want holly berries or blueberries, get at least one “Prince” for 4 or 5 “Princesses.”