now that spring is here, i’ve been thinking about creating a potted garden on our back porch. whatever we decide to plant would have to be super disease and pest-resistant though. our little trader joe’s basil plant didn’t survive for very long because of aphid attacks. the leaves ultimately made for some unsavory looking toppings for many o’ pasta dishes.
one flower i’d definitely like to plant are some mexican sunflowers, which if you’ve ever visited me in canada (aka da bronx), you might have seen growing on our fire escape (along with one too many aloe plants and a crawling morning glory that snaked around the windows in the office — what was i thinking?). in my memory, the mexican sunflowers look like black-eyed daisies, but in actuality were a fiery orange. i just remember being so happy seeing them in full bloom. the bright colors contrasted starkly against the red brick of the house across the street and the blue summer sky views that were ours to claim from the 4th floor.
secretly, i wanted people to look up from the street or out of their windows and admire the plants. instead, all i got were a few cigarette butts and dirty rag water falling from the 5th floor junkies. it became my routine to sift through the soil to throw out their trash once a week. nothing was sacred to them. not even my little fire escape eden. maybe i should’ve gifted them the plants when we moved out. maybe they could’ve used a little sunflower power to brighten up their lives?
Will Dao 