Green Goddess

Ernesta Drinker Ballard has an answer for my every question. Last week I found a copy of Garden in Your House, her small volume on indoor gardening, at a local bookstore. I've fallen--head-over-heels--in love.

Although I descend from a long line of successful, amateur horticulturalists, somewhere along the way the family's DNA mutated. The proof is in the pudding. I'm the nightmare amateur. Every mistake to be made has been made. Over-watering is my credo.

Then along came Ernesta. And for the first time in my life, I now understand why one soaks absolutely all the soil in the pot if watering a potted plant. I discover my Kimberly Queen is rootbound. I repot. I stop watering some plants. I increase my watering of others. I move the Kimberly Queen to a different windowsill. I water. Then I wait. And, all the while, I keep reading. And learning.

My recovering nephrolepis obliterata (aka Kimberly Queen)

Don't be fooled though. I may speak as if Ernesta is my green goddess, a diety benefiting myself alone, but you should be aware that her influence is vaster. Once head of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and savior of the Philadelphia Flower Show, Ernesta's ambitions far exceeded the garden.  I've relished her influence every time I visit downtown Philadelphia. Thanks in part to Ernesta's political clout in Philadelphia, the historic Fairmount Water Works were restored.


Philadelphia Water Works

 So I am truly humbled that in small, windowsill ways Ernesta continues her saving and restorative work in my house. Her little volume on house gardens has changed life as my Kimberly Queen knows it. So, onward to page 36. We tackle leaf cuttings next.