Maggie Finds A Home

It's been said that no good deed goes unpunished, and I'd rather not to think about how many times I've thought that to myself. But so too I've marveled at how often things manage to work out well in the end. Both of these apply to Maggie's story.

It started in 2014, when a lady I barely knew in the Tropical Fruit Society of Sarasota asked me to take care of her container plants for a few weeks. Seems she was moving, and for some reason that I never quite understood, the plants couldn't stay at either the former residence or the newer one.

The lady, whom I'll call Miss Not Much Longer, or Miss L for short, said it would only be for a few weeks, and she could drop them off at my place and pick them up after she had moved. I reluctantly agreed, overruling the voice in my head that was screaming "No!".

A few days later Miss L and her plants showed up in a van with her boyfriend, a strapping young fellow without whose help I could never have managed the two heavy containers full of sandy potting soil--- seen here empty with one of the neighborhood cats on patrol. They housed a persimmon tree and a fig tree. In an assortment of smaller containers were a shrimp plant, a lantana, and some garlic chives. A 1-gallon container, filled with topsoil approximately as dense as lead, sported a mysterious little succulent about an inch tall.

I don't need to tell you that Miss L disappeared. When she showed up a few months later at a club meeting, I asked her about the plants. She said there had been complications, but in a few more weeks she could take them back. I managed to obtain her email.

Spring arrived. The persimmon leafed out beautifully, made fruit, and died. The fig made a fruit that looked somewhat like a Brown Turkey's. I emailed Miss L a few times, getting no answer. Finally, late in the year, she called me and reported that she hadn't been able to email me successfully, but she was coming by my place.

When she arrived, we established that she had saved my email address incorrectly and hence I never received her messages. She said that she still couldn't take the plants, as she was going to work for a couple of months in Fiji, but when she returned she definitely would be able to take them. I suggested giving them away to good homes, but she was horrified at the prospect of losing her "babies". I had propagated three cordylines, pretty purple-and-cream Cameroons, and Miss L said she could use them in a landscaping job she was doing. So I at least got rid of some plants, though not what I'd had in mind.

Time passed with no word. The garlic chives grew and grew. The little succulent didn't grow at all, but did manage to stay alive in full sun with no care. I saw a plant like it at church and found out that it was a full-shade-loving Christmas cactus. I put it in a 4-inch pot on the porch, where as you can see it has done much better.

A hurricane ravaged Fiji, reminding me of Miss L, so I emailed her. She reported that she had been traveling in the islands seeking her dream plantation, and had found it, but it got wiped out in the hurricane. And now she has been “living with the village people to adapt the fruit and vegetable menu.” She didn't say how long that might take.

Winter turned to spring, and as May approached, I finally decided to listen to the voice in my head, which for quite some time had been telling me to pull the plug. The lantana went to compost, as Florida doesn't need more invasive exotics. The garlic chives joined those in my garden. The shrimp plant is being pampered into good health to be given away. I rather like the Christmas cactus, which will keep its place on the porch.

As for the fig tree, I decided to repot it. Extracting it from the container was a feat, but produced a surprise. Below the soil line was a plastic tag around the trunk that said “Fig – Magnolia”. The Google machine told me that Magnolia is an interesting variety--- its fruit is one of the largest of all figs--- and after being christened Maggie, the forlorn visitor joined my merry band of fig trees.

Maggie is still adjusting to her 15-gallon container, but looking very happy to have a permanent home. If Miss L ever does find her way from Fiji back to Sarasota, I'll tell her that Maggie has found her dream plantation and decided to stay here forever. But that I will take a cutting and start a new Magnolia fig tree that Miss L can have. And I'll get on that in just a couple of months. After I finish up a few other things. Not much longer.