I've mentioned some of the exotics and
tropics that I have and it comes to mind that the casual observer may
say, “Why?”. There are hundreds of beautiful zone 8 plants, many
gorgeous natives in Oregon. Why would you want to deal with the
difficulty of having non-native tropicals and the like when they are
that much more of a headache? Why would you want to spend so much
time working with plants that could, with just the smallest wrong
move die, causing you so much wasted time and effort?
Challenge.
And I know it's not just me. Many
people, many gardeners enjoy the challenge of growing something that
isn't “normal”. We like the weird, we like the different. I
love tulips to death, but they're easy (hopefully I won't raise the
ire of any tulip growers with that statement...). Drosera regia
isn't. Irises are easy, Heliamphora
isn't. There's a reward, though subtle, for growing plants that most
people are afraid to try. Even more for plants that people don't
even realize exist.
I'm
not the only person who does this sort of thing, but I feel a
definite sense of accomplishment to tread where few step. And it's
not just gardeners, of course. Many people constantly push the
boundaries of what is and isn't possible. People like to go to
places were few or no people have been before. I'm
not sure what drives us, but I know that calling.
It's a little
different for everyone. Mine just happens to be derived from the
want to prove that certain plants can be grown here, where the
winters, though mild, frequently dip below freezing (which isn't
ideal for any tropical I can think of). And I like to think that I
might help contribute to the wealth of human knowledge, in my own
little way.
I'd like to think
that some of the work I do will eventually help expand our knowledge
of the limits of certain plants. What I learn today I hope to turn
into research papers later. I want to have helpful tips and easy to
use guides for people just starting. I want to provide answers for
people searching into Google, “Can I grow pineapples in Oregon?”
(by the way, the answer is yes, and it's not even that hard, in fact,
and I just learned this, my uncle was *very* successful in growing
pineapples in Oregon).
There is a personal
appeal to discovering knowledge to pass on to people. But, perhaps,
the simple thing is:
My challenge in
growing is to prove my worth.
Afterword:
This sprang up from
a conversation I had with my cousin, Chris Rombough, about the allure
of growing the difficult, just because we can. I had a hard time
putting into words the desire I have to do this, and at a family get
together a couple weeks ago, we were discussing it. His dad, my
uncle, would constantly try to grow out of the ordinary plants,
trying to push the boundary of what you can do in Oregon. My first
blog post talked about him, and covered some of the work that he did.
And he inspired us both.
And as a shout out
to what Chris does for a living, he is a fish and wildlife surveyor
and educator. He's even appeared on OPB (Oregon's local PBS station)
a couple times, both times on Oregon Field Guide. One appearance is
in the Silent Invasion special, talking about the destructive
impact of invasive species, the other a regular episode, with a
segment on “Field Herping”. I absolutely recommend watching the entirety of Silent Invasion, but if you want to skip ahead, his segment begins around the 43 minute mark. The videos are below.
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