Avocadette, photo taken 022221
Once she was an almost cast-off pit
to be tossed into the compost heap.
Redeemed on a whim, toothpicked
and watered, she sprouted thanks.
Inspiring beyond all weathered strife,
spider mites, and indoor gloom,
she goes on, greening and growing,
reaching out for Spring.
I have a lot of indoor plants. Most of them are out in the atrium, shut off from heat. It never goes below 40F out there so they toughen up over the cold months. My little lady, the avocado tree, stays inside. I don’t want to take a chance of her freezing. She’s been through so much already. Spending summers outdoors is great for sun but has its own set of hazards. One summer when lawncarers had to mow, the guy with the line trimmer lopped her off but she was tough and sprouted back. She’s been infested with fungus gnats and spider mites that have made some of her leaves fall off. But she keeps fighting. She, more than anything, tells me spring is on the way as in the last week or so she’s sprouted a bunch of new leaves.
One of the two grapefruit trees Bob started from seeds. They live in the atrium in winter.
photo taken 022221
De Jackson (aka whimsygizmo) is today’s host for dVerse’ Quadrille. De says:
Greetings, amazing poet friends! It’s time again for that fun little form of our own creation, the Quadrille – in which we write poems of precisely 44 words, including one word we provide.
Today, I want you to go boldly. Go above and beyond. Go crazy. Go bananas. Wherever you go, write us a little poem with the word GO (or one of its forms) in it somewhere.
Tao Talk 
She sounds like a born survivor Lisa!
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Yes she is! Thanks Ingrid. Also wanted to let you know I made a comment on your poem but it didn’t show up. Let me know if it doesn’t and I can try again.
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I did get your comment so I hope you got my reply 😅
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I did 🙂 Pixels crossing in the night…
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🙂
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This is so personal. I love because it sounds like am right in the moment next to the avocadette.
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Thank you, Biko. Glad you connected with avocadette. I just found the tree fertilizer today while doing some spring cleaning and she and the grapefruits all got a feeding.
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Wonderful…
You must be in love with gardening.
I can’t imagine the stress you’ve gone through with the seasons changing, because on our side we don’t deal with such.
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Oh, I just love this! What a testament to going boldly. I especially love this line:
“she sprouted thanks”
That made me smile!
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🙂 Many thanks, De.
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What a tough lady she is! I love this Lisa.
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Thank you much, Linda.
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You evidently gave her the will to carry on – you green fingered poet!
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❤
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A discarded pit rising to thrive again! Plants are so amazing. I love putting a sweet potato in water until it roots and grows. The promise of regeneration!
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There is something about growing things that give me hope. Glad you enjoyed the poem 🙂
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This sounds wonderful… i have never seen anything growing from a pit growing this well
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Thank you, Bjorn.
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I can relate very well with your house plant. Good job mothering her.
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Thank you much, I think she succeeds despite help!
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I love that she has such spirit, and that you recognize it! Beautiful!
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Merril thank you, if a plant lover can have favorites, she’s mine 🙂
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Of course you can have favorites. I think you should keep us posted regularly on her now.
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I’ll get a pic of her this summer when she’s outside in her glory.
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😀
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I love your avocadette and I join her in reaching for spring!
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Thank you, Dora, I’m reaching right along with you and her 🙂
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Reminds me of the fig tree in my dinning room, keeps plodding on no matter what, and adds a nice touch of greenery to the winter months. Not a fan of the cold though.
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Carol, very happy you can relate to her with your fig tree.
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There is nothing quite satisfying as a plant outwitting adverse weather conditions! 💝
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Sanaa, I admire her spirit very much! Thank you very much for reading and commenting.
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What a healthy-looking plant, Lisa – you did a good job with her, and with this quadrille, I’m so glad she sprouted thanks after all your care and attention.
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Kim thank you, she is good company.
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Wonderful piece. I’m in two minds about plants – I see them as green machines, sprouting blooming and fruiting according to their DNA – and yet I take such childish pleasure in the new leaf, the first breaking of soil or the tendril curved in the morning sunlight. Bravo the avo.
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Thanks much, Peter. Maybe that childish pleasure is poetry yet is also wired into our DNA? Michael Pollan writes about it in The Botany of Desire.
indeed!
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Lisa. This is such a heartening poem! 😀
-David
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Much thanks, David 🙂
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Yowza! I’ve seen a million unsuccessful attempts, so I’m impressed at your success and your marvelous talent for relating it.
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Thanks, Ron!
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I like your avocado tree. Nice little poem about her and how she overcame adversity! 🙂
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Barbara, she has helped me as much as she’s survived with her tough little self. Thank you ❤
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she is thriving, they love the heat … they only grow in the temperate part of oz so struggling to imagine this coping with your climate! She’s a real goer …
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I need to repot her when things warm up. She loves summertime outside. Yes she is!
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I pray she fruits one day, I love avos 🙂
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“she sprouted thanks.” That must have been her act of gratitude for being salvaged.
I hope she continues to grow.
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❤ Yes 🙂
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Oh how nice. I did see that toothpick avocado seed trick on Pinterest
Stay Safe
Much💗love
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Oh it works! I could have a forest of them with time it’s just finding a place to put them when they grow bigger. Thanks, Gillena, and love back ❤
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That plant of yours is really on the go to grow! What a great poem and
backstory!
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Thank you, Dwight.
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:>)
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Enjoyed your plant’s survivor story, Lisa! Has she produced any avocados?
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Thank you, Lynn. None yet…
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What a sweet homage to your avocado offspring! I grew a little one once from a pit balanced with toothpicks over a glass of water semi submerged. It sprouted too and I put it outside. It should have done well because I am in FL but it never made it. 😢 I’m happy yours made it. It will be exciting when it bears fruit ☺️
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Thanks, Christine and so cool you had one also. I really would love to see it bear fruit. It and the grapefruit trees!
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I hope it does Lisa. I have an established avocado tree now and I actually got half a dozen avocados lady year. The trick is to leave them on the tree to ripen fully. Not easy as the squirrels pulled most of them off and they didn’t ripen 😕
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One of the benes of living in FL has to be the fruit that grows there. Oh my gosh, I had no idea squirrels liked avocados 😦 Do you know if they need another tree to pollinate the fruit?
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I’m not sure if they actually eat them but they sure enjoy pulling them off the tree. The best thing I have seen is the Crow’s banquet underneath my neighbors Mango tree. It is so funny to see them all sitting there together eating them! LOL ☺️
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🙂
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I love that your plant is reaching out for Spring! This winter does feel like it’s been a struggle and we are all bit beaten but hanging on. The struggle is real but beautiful as well! 🌱
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I’ll go along with everything you say except the beautiful part 😉 lol
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🌹
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😊
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Such an encouraging story of nurture, life and flourishing. An inauguration of life. A metaphor for goodness?
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May be! 🙂
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Doubly praiseworthy- a delightful verse /and/ you got an avocado to grow. (I managed this just once, and then left it on the porch one fall night forgetting about the potential temperature drop)
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Thanks, Alexandra! I’ve sprouted many of them, but something along the way usually nabs them also. I’ve done that forgot and it froze on plants a time or two. Are you getting the melt over there? It’s sunny here and everything is melting today.
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At least 15″ has melted away. The sad part of that is there’s still 10″ on the ground. But I did manage a 40 minute walk today because there’s now enough clear street and sidewalk! Wearing just a sweater!
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! 🙂 YAY!
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‘…reaching out for spring.’
You avocado plant and I have something in common; I’ve been reaching out for spring since the end of autumn 2020.
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🙂 Almost there!
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And thank goodness for that! 🙏
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My avocado is doing great in this apartment, but the grapefruit trees have some kind of infestation. I put one of them in the shower, and it seems a bit better. They have all become leafless at times over the years as well, but always sprout back. A lesson to us all! (K)
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That’s so cool your avocado is doing good. I haven’t had trouble with the grapefruits except for their need for sun to keep the leaves dark green.
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I have an avocado tree that can totally relate with yours😊. I especially liked the part, “she sprouted thanks”.
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Sorry for the late response. Very neat that you have an avocado tree. Thank you.
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It’s a good thing she’s been doing so very well~
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Yes, she keeps chugging along.
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