Joan E. Bauer: The Sisterhood of Buddleias

From Tampa, Vegas, Fort Worth & Fresno
the sisters write to Farmer's Almanac.
 
Sarah plants a butterfly bush
for the purple, nectar-rich splendor in a pot.
 
Hannah wants some pink extravagance 
to beckon hummingbirds.  
 
Nancy Jean raves about the arching shoots,
the spiky tresses. Sylvie says, 'Prune anytime!'
 
I study my ho-hum West LA backyard.
Not the best soil, but good drainage.
 
I read the warnings: grasshoppers will chew 
the leaves to lace 
 
& caterpillars will feast on whatever's left.
Then the spider mites.
 
Maybe I can learn from Tampa, Fort Worth 
& Fresno, even if we don't agree on everything.
 
Black Night   Harlequin  Dwarf Blue.
Evil Ways  Lambs Ears  Orange Wooly

Maybe we can agree on hummingbirds.
The balance of alkaline & acid.


--                                                          
 
Copyright 2020 Joan E. Bauer. A version of this
poem previously appeared in Poetry Leaves.