And what have I come up with? Well it was difficult. I hadn’t realized how hard it would be to choose 3 plants so I am putting this post up now, before I change my mind ….. again!
My first choice is Bamboo – and probably Golden Grove Bamboo (Phyllostachys aureosulcata spectabilis).
I have chosen this to give some structure and sound and I enjoy the yellow of the young canes. I also thought that growing a clump of bamboo may be useful for making things, tent poles, fishing rods etc.
My Second choice is Hellebore – and my reasoning is that the leaves would add interest all year. The flowers are a welcome early season flower. The flowers also look beautiful as they die and go over.
My third choice has to involve scent and colour, so it is the sweet pea. A plant that gives me such delight through the summer, and if I was on the desert island for a while, I could save the seed and have sweet peas every year.
So thanks go to Shirl for hosting the challenge, she has set up Mr. Linky – so pop over to her blog and check out everyone’s must have “desert island plants”.
Thanks must also go to Easygardener – who left a comment on yesterdays post, which was my inspiration for this comic
Karen, I loved your comic. I think this has caused quite a lot of thought around the world. Well done to Shirl for the idea and hosting it. I just hope we are all on the same island – then we can enjoy a great selection of plants, including yours. Like you I am a great fan of hellebores, mine are very nearly out in flower. I am looking forward to the weekend when I can see them properly.
Best wishes Sylvia
Hi Karen, oh how wonderful that you chose the comic platform to tell us your picks. I love Mrs. Grumpy, that is me, and you are Mrs. Easy. I so enjoyed looking at the sky and discussing what should be planted. This was a delight. Like you, I wanted to have something to work with my hands too, a compulsion.
Kudos to Shirl, this is going to be big!
Frances
Frances’s last blog post..Desert Island Dreams
Your comic is brilliant, as per usual.
And I like your choice of plants, Hellebores and sweet peas were on my short list so I’m glad you’ve decided to bring them to our desert island. Good thinking on the bamboo, it’s not only pretty but will come in very handy too. Just like my water feature. grin
Yolanda Elizabet’s last blog post..Decisions, Decisions!
As ever, a wonderful comic, love the gentle humour. Sweet peas, and Hellebores would be in my final list (that’s if I could get it below 100 plants).You can have my bamboo rations though – really dislike them!
Zoë’s last blog post..In my Garden: Hamamelis x intermedia ‘Jelena’
Hey Karen, this is just pure dead brilliant!! I am especially thrilled you choose the comic route and hey we have the same first plants too and for the same reasons! Yes, as Sylvia says it would be great if we were all on the same Island perhaps sitting by easygardener’s camp fire
I too considered the hellebores – such beautiful flowers. Sweet peas, now I should have thought on that one as I ain’t too good at growing that one in my own garden! Oh… yes and I did think on making things with my bamboo stems – I was thinking of a tree house in my cherry tree. Doh… I forgot to add that to my own posting. What great fun this has been
Shirl’s last blog post..Desert Island Plant Challenge
Oh goody, I knew we could depend on you for a masterpiece of whimsy. And given that I just read a book last night about an Anxious Gardener (with a friend called Gardening Mentor), both of whom sound like your two inhabitants–this cracked me up even more.
Love the choices, especially the hellebore. They give me challenges but I suppose on this desert island even I could grow them, couldn’t I?
jodi’s last blog post..My Desert Island Plants
Great comic!
Your choices are great. I hadn’t heard about this challenge until today, so now I’m finding great blogs by looking for the posts.
Cheers,
Cameron
Cameron (Defining Your Home Garden)’s last blog post..The Miniature Rose
Clever girl Karen! Just love your brilliant comic! Great choices of plants, very creative/ Tyra
Tyra’s last blog post..Desert Island – Plant Challenge. I would bring…
This is too funny. I think I know these ladies. Your choices are just great. Bamboo seem very islandy to me.
You are so creative-that cartoon was very fun! You and Shirl both chose bamboo, very interesting. Hellebore was a runner up for me-good choice! And how sweet to have sweet peas for fragrance.
tina’s last blog post..Shirl’s Garden Watch Desert Island Challenge
In some ways we had similar picks. We both picked bamboo for our first choice. Our last choice was a scent flower. BTW loved your little comic.
Daphne’s last blog post..Desert Island Challenge
Karen, The comic is lots of fun. I didn’t find this exercise easy either! But it turned out to be lots of fun to read all the choices and how people arrived at them. I do love the bamboo, hellebore and sweetpea combinations. Fragrance, sound and good eye candy. gail
gail’s last blog post..Desert Classic~~ Pick Three
Thank you for my red tent. We will definitely need a bottle of wine if we are going to ramble on for so long!
I see you have gone for fragrance too with the sweet peas. The bamboo will provide a gentle rustling sound. You can never have too many hellebores even if you have to get down on your hands and knees to look at them (lol)
I had to just go for the first 3 I thought of otherwise I would never have done the post. I have already come up with more and everyones choices make me think OH yes I should have chosen that one – just as your post did
Leave it to you Karen to be creative in your approach to this challenging meme! Great choices one and all!
Racquel’s last blog post..Planning for spring
Well, I did have my list sorted out, then realised I had forgotten sweet peas. But I will be strong and go with the three I had already chosen. Love the comic strip.
BRILLIANT! and FUN!
Karrita
MyMothersGarden’s last blog post..Shirl’s Desert Island Challenge Answer
What smart and lovely choices. I know, I would pick something different tomorrow!
Layanee’s last blog post..Desert Island Plant Challenge
Absolutely brilliant Karen ! I love the picture of the grand debate taking place under the starry night skies. Hellebores just missed out on my list coming in at number 4
Anna’s last blog post..Desert Island Plant Challenge
Karen .. I just mentioned to Shirl that we finally had bamboo in our garden centers last year. Clump forming .. called “Green Panda” as the commercial name .. the proper name is some where in the house with my gardening gear .. scary. The hellebore .. I only have one at the moment and I am in awe of it .. only plain “Orientalis?” .. but the foliage is remarkable all summer long after the flowers. Sweet Pea .. now that is a lovely smelling flower : )
Very nice selection girl !
Joy’s last blog post..Shirl’s Desert Island Plant Challenge
Karen – many thanks for your kind commments on my blog – it’s been a fun challenge… I must admit Helebores were a choice I thought about as they seem to flower for ages and with their evergreen foliage offer a lot for a small plant! They’re on their way out here – the earliest ones to come out are always the Helebore Niger followed by the other varieties. Will visit again soon Miranda
Miranda Bell’s last blog post..A bit of gardening fun for January….
Hurrah – another issue of the comic!
I see you’ve kept some of the plants from your selection with James last year
My little raft’s only just got to the island in time for our weekend fun. Have a good one!
VP’s last blog post..Stop Press – RHS Online Forum
What a wonderful post…great cartoons! I like your choices. Mine were poppies, geraniums and a liquidamber tree. It was so hard narrowing it down to three. If I could have cheated I’d have suggested a wildflower meadow
I so enjoy your cartoons! Mrs. Grumpy is probably grouchy cuz she’s got a lousy tent that doesn’t keep out the mosquitoes at night. I was so close to choosing a Hellebore for my list (it actually made it into a draft). I like your other choices too.
Mr. McGregor’s Daughter’s last blog post..The Deserted Island Plant List
I just LOVED your cartoon. That is so clever and charming.
I like your choices, too…bamboo for making things, and bamboo chimes are nice in the wind, and you cannot beat a fishing pole!
Sweet pea! some of my alltime favorite flowers.
Your post was such a delight to read. how do you make a cartoon like that? very impressive!
Philip
philip bewley’s last blog post..The Way of Tea; On “The Dewy Path” In Winter
Too cute of a comic! Great choices, especially the sweet peas!
Dawn’s last blog post..My Desert Plants
Good choices, esp. the sweet peas and hellebores. I wish I would have thought of the sweet peas when making my selections.
Jan
Always Growing
Jan’s last blog post..Everybody’s Favorite
Cute, cute, cute! And good choices!
Shady Gardener’s last blog post..A Taste for Tiarella?
I can see some of the thought processes that must have gone into your selections. Tough wasn’t it? Good choices in the end–I especially love the bamboo. My neighbor has a golden, I have a black. I’d have a hard time picking between the two of them.
lostlandscape(James)’s last blog post..visualize your blog content
How clever, Karen … great choices! If you ever crave a woodland setting on the island, come visit my tent!
joey’s last blog post..‘AFFIRMATIVE’ GARDEN WHITE BLOOMING FRIDAY~ ‘WINTER WHITE’ CHOCOLATE RASPBERRY TRIFLE
Ha ha! We had the same idea about the bamboo – I swear I hadn’t looked at your blog first. I love your Garden Comics – so immaculately done, lovely to look at and funny too.
Arabella Sock’s last blog post..Desert Island Plant Challenge
Thank you all so much for visiting.
The desert island meme was such fun and I have enjoyed visiting everyone’s tropical paradise – now if we were all somewhere where our islands were close to each other – what a garden we would create.
Big thanks to Shirl for hosting such a fun trip – it was just the thing to chase away the winter blues.
Hmmmm… how long would it take to get two gardeners to agree on the three plants? I love the Garden Comics!
Carol, May Dreams Gardens’s last blog post..Gardening Geek: 50 and Over Edition
I love the comic! It would be so true, too. Gosh darn it, I forgot about Hellebores…
Such a fun post–I love the comic! As Carol said, I doubt two gardeners could ever agree on the same three plants. I’ve been sitting here looking at an offer to buy some Hellebores–you’ve persuaded me to go for it!
prairierose’s last blog post..On a Desert Island…with my Signature Plant
Hello Karen,
I am so happy to meet you. Your comic strip is so enjoyable.
I grow bamboo and love the way it sounds when the wind blows…stays green in the winter too and handy for plant stakes and such.
Looking forward to reading your journal.
This was a fun meme. A nice way to meet people.
Namaste,
Sherry
Sherry’s last blog post..Texas
Your comic is brilliant, I enjoyed it a lot! And so is your choice of plants, of course.
Katarina
Katarina’s last blog post..Blooming Friday – White Delights
This is now my favourite of your cartoons.
Lucy
Lucy Corrander’s last blog post..ELDERBERRY AND HAWTHORN
Ok, I think that your choices are excellent — reminders of what to plant next year (the list is getting longer). But mostly I wish I had thought of the comic. I see comics in my future postings!
[...] delight of my garden at this time of year is the Hellebores – one of my Desert Island Plants. February 16th, 2009 | Tags: february, first daisy, flowers, GBBD | Category: garden journal | [...]