As many of you know, I am one of the advisors for Garden Compass, a smartphone app that allows people to have a plant or plant problem identified by actual human eyeballs…when you have this app it’s like having a garden geek in your pocket.
I had a great conversation with one of the Garden Compass users this weekend. The photo below was submitted, and I saw that the person who sent it was in Pennsylvania. I assumed that it was a plant that he/she grew as a houseplant, and since it was outside it was doing well enough to flower.
I identified this plant as a Jatropha – most likely a Jatropha multifida, and here is how the conversation went:
Me: Nice plant! Good to see that you’ve “sent it to summer camp.” It’s clearly happy.
User: Thanks, but I only wish is were mine. It is growing at Chanticleer in Wayne, PA, where everything and everybody is happy!
Me: Ah, Chanticleer…my favorite public garden! Plant geeks hyperventilate on a simple trip to the restroom there, right? BTW – the website Top Tropicals has these for sale 😉
User: You are so right! My husband said you must be spying on me. I always visit the restrooms.
Me: I wish I was spying on you…it would mean that I’m also at Chanticleer. Enjoy!
Here is the photo that was submitted through the app. Don’t you love how the plants can bring total strangers together?
So thanks, Garden Compass, Chanticleer, and the app user who gets pleasure from great plants. The world needs places that bring people together around wonder and beauty.
