Collecting greens of nature: Nurture or torture?

THE discussions during the two-day 27th symposium of the Northern Mindanao Consortium of Aquatic and Agricultural Research and Development (NOMCAARRD) in early December 2015, made it obvious that our appreciation of nature could indeed take a turn for the worst. When we like certain plant varieties, we go to great lengths to find cuttings or seeds and coming home we settle them on a favorite patch. Those which need much sunlight, we plant them where they can have the full measure of sun. We painstakingly nurture these to grow them healthy. In no time, we enjoy the flushes of color that show they had enough of the care and nourishment they need. On waking up. We hurry outdoors fill our lungs with their scent.

Another form of liking is to have nature in-doors with us. If we can afford, we buy the kinds we like from the many commercial gardens outside the city. In those display gardens the plants have the full measure of air and sun. Nevertheless, we bring them inside our dwellings where we not only see them but also touch them. So, they are set at our favorite nook. And here comes the problem. They could be in a place where they starve for the nurturance they need. The first few months, we enjoy their beauty. Soon, however, the lush green or the myriad colors of their leaves fade away. To save them, we hurry them outside under full heat. Like anything that has been kept away from nature, the sudden exposure to sun and rain does not do the plants well. It is as it were, a traumatic experience for them. No matter how patiently we bring them back to health, that sad experience they had remains for them a painful past.