On Plant Intelligence

These strange jack-in-the-pulpit seedheads with their arms thrown up in the air has me thinking about the book I am reading: Have you read The Light Eaters yet? I am very close to finishing. It is mind-bending in the best possible way. I wanted to summarize it for you in my own words…but it has gotten late, so I am letting ChatGPT do it for you:  “The Light Eaters: How the Unseen World of Plant Intelligence Offers a New Understanding of Life on Earth” byZoë Schlanger is a thought-provoking exploration into the complex and often hidden world of plant intelligence. It is a deep immersion into the drama of green life and the complexity of this wild and awe-inspiring world that challenges our very understanding of agency, consciousness, and intelligence. In looking closely, we see that plants, rather than imitate human intelligence, have perhaps formed a parallel system. What is intelligent life if not a vine that grows leaves to blend into the shrub on which it climbs, a flower that shapes its bloom to fit exactly the beak of its pollinator, a pea seedling that can hear water flowing and make its way toward it? Zoë Schlanger takes us across the globe, digging into her own memories and into the soil with the scientists who have spent their waking days studying these amazing entities up close.”

If you like these kind of deep reads, I recommend this book.

Jack-in-the pulpit seedheads (Arisaema triphyllum)

Welcome to September

Have you ever seen this strange little flower? It’s new to me–a variety of celosia. To my eye, it is what the French would call mignon moche (ugly-cute). But beauty is in the eye of the beholder: So what do you think? Ugly or Cute?

cockscomb (Celosia argentea var. cristata)

bittersweet

Have you read Bittersweet, the book by Susan Cain?  If not, I recommend it. My husband and son feel that “bittersweet” is the best possible descriptor for Minnesota and Minnesotans. The two of them are in NYC right now, otherwise I would ask them for a short explanation of what they mean when they say that–but it will have to wait until Steve is back home. No hurry though, because this bittersweet vine will keep getting more and more beautiful as it dries.

American bittersweet (Celastrus scandens)

Dear Universe,

I’ve got a lot on my plate right now. And you seem to want to keep adding more. Please know that I will do my best, but that I at the moment my plate if full. I will add your most recent requests to the list of responsibilities I am currently working on, but I cannot guarantee a timely response. If your needs are urgent, you may want to find another solution.

Sincerely,

Mary Jo

all knotted up

A visualization of my gut right now. I’ve had a house full of people, and a mother in and out of the ER unable to fully care for herself because of a debilitating herniated disk in her back. My daughter left today. And my son and husband leave tomorrow to get Joseph set up in his apartment in NYC for the new school year. My Mom is finding (some) relief with medical marijuana, and we have a surgical consult next week. I see calm on the horizon. I wonder how long it will take me to untangle this knot?

knotted vine tendrils