Healing and the Soil

Wisdom is often found in the uncomfortable. Picris echioides L., known as Bristly Oxtongue or more fondly by a friend as Velcro Plant, was the day's assignment for me in a garden. The intent was to prevent proliferation of the already plentiful plant by cutting its stems and flowers prior to its seeds being dispersed by the wind. As I cut each, Felco pruners in hand, the common names for these plants found expression on my garden gloves, bristles spearing through the glove's thick mesh. Tolerable. The occasional plant merited a tug and as I pulled out the strong tap root, the dialogue within me transformed. In our rich clay soils that can result in broken shovels, these tap roots become a path over which water, insects and microbes can travel into the soils. FeralKevin has found it beneficial when planting among the Picris, as the roots of a more delicate plant can follow this fearsome tap root down into the soil on a quest for moisture and nourishment. On this particular day, I was thankful that I had not time to dig each plant out; in fact, my small shovel had broken in the clay after just two attempts. As I gathered the cuttings, I reflected upon the similarity of Picris and Comfrey, the marvelous healing plant with high biomass, whose name is from the Latin word conferta, meaning "to grow together". Shall we then keep the Picris within the garden and attend to it with a simple pruning? Coexistence? I think so. Conferta? With open minds and resilient choices, we shall.