I bought a little forest.

So I do this tree seedling giveaway every April.  I buy 100 baby tree seedlings from the Howard Nursery here in PA and I literally give them away on the third Saturday.  In a sense, it feels like I’m dispatching a little forest.  The forest won’t be planted all together, but 100 trees can make quite an impact.  Anyway, I’ve done it quite a few years now, so the planning is pretty much on autopilot.  I order the trees in January, receive them between late March and mid  April, plant them in pots outside to keep them healthy, wrap each one in a little bag the night before, and carry them into the shop the morning of the event.  There’s obviously a lot  more to it than that, but it’s very systematic at this point.  The tree species change from year to year depending on what’s available, but there’s ALWAYS Flowering Dogwood as one of the options.  People are waiting at my door for the Dogwood, and it’s the first seedling that runs out each year.  Last year, my systematic plan had a monkey wrench thrown in.  There weren’t any Flowering Dogwood seedlings available.  It had been a very bad growing year, and none were big enough to safely transplant.  I was incredibly disappointed and my tree receivers were also very disappointed as well.  This year I knew there would be Dogwood available.  I also knew they would be beautiful since last year’s seedlings had been allowed to grow one more year.  What I never know, though, is how many are available…and how long they’ll last.  It’s kind of like standing in line for concert tickets.  The tickets aren’t available until a certain date, at a certain time.  Even though you know what you want, you still can’t reserve your tickets until the window opens.   If there’s only 2000 tickets, and you are number 2001, you go home without.  That’s kind of how it works with the seedlings.  The order form isn’t available until January 6th.  You  can’t even SEE it until January 6th.  So on January 6th each year, I go out to the website, print the order form, read through the species available, and try to figure everything out.  I knew I wanted Dogwood.  In fact, I knew I wanted two bundles of the Dogwood this year, but what else was I going to choose?  And since everyone else didn’t get their Dogwood last year, was there going to be a mad rush to order the Dogwood?  What if I dawdle too long and miss out?  I just HAVE to get the Dogwood this year for my customers.  I felt this intense sense of urgency.  Silly, quite frankly.  There’s so much going on in the world, and I chose to become entirely stressed out about getting my little trees.  But anyway, there I was, obsessed about getting the Dogwood.  I typically also get Eastern Redbud, so I search down the top of the order form.  Hmmm…no Redbud listed.   Do they not have any Redbud this year?  Wait, no, there it is at the bottom with an asterisk next to it.  Shoot…I know what that means.  The tiny quantity available items have that  asterisk.  So now, not only was I at risk of not getting my Dogwood, but the Redbud was in danger as well.  I could almost hear the clock ticking in my head.  Quick, quick, I need one other species.  Wait, what’s this one?  Winterberry?  I’ve never had that one before.   I wonder what it is?  So I called the Nursery.  These people are wonderful.  They’re friendly, and they’re helpful, and they really know their stuff.  I find out that Winterberry is a deciduous holly.  Seriously?  The beauty of a holly bush without the prickly leaves?  That’s brilliant!  And they still had the Dogwood AND the Redbud.  Score!  I got my trees.  Exactly what I wanted.  I hung up the phone and felt this amazing sense of calm.  There are 100 little tree seedlings growing at the Howard Nursery that are now reserved for me.  Once the ground is thawed for good the end of March / early April, they will be dug up, packed up, and sent to me.  And then I will give them to you.   I can’t wait!

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~ by silkrdlady on January 12, 2012.