Fragrant Nicotiana

I sit out on my deck in the dark on these warm September nights and listen to the chorus of crickets and tree frogs. I smell the overpowering sweetness of flowering tobacco (Nicotiana), an annual which liberally reseeds itself every year. Just a few years ago, i realized the Nicotiana was out at the vegetable garden, but since it releases its fragrance at night, it should really be blooming near the deck, the front step and the back step.

The right flower in the right place. Ahh. Now there's a challenge. Are we in the right place for us? The right place to meditate regularly? To exercise regularly? To calm our minds and to be mindful?

Where is the right place for us to flower?

Too Much

The tomato hornworms are back in my garden. They're so well camouflaged that i haven't actually seen one yet, but i do see their handiwork--bare tomato stems.

The tomato hornworm eats tomato leaves. You have to admit that tomato leaves have a signature scent (and perhaps taste?) that smells good to us tomato-loving folk. On occasion, i've even bought tomato-leaf scented soap.

The best way for me to control the tomato hornworm is to have a very limited section of flowering tobacco (Nicotiana). This year i've let the Nicotiana pop up everywhere it wants. I have too much of it.

The tobacco hornworm is very closely related to the tomato hornworm, so my theory is that the flowering tobacco serves as an alternate host for the tomato hornworm.

Too much of anything leads to stress. Too much food (I should diet.), too many clothes (What am i going to wear today?), too much stuff around the house (I can't find.....). Too many tomato hornworms.

It's time to prune the clutter. And it's time to pull out the flowering tobacco in and around the vegetable garden.

Photo from articles.washingtonpost.com