Today, I’d like to challenge you to write an abecedarian poem – a poem in which the word choice follows the words/order of the alphabet.
My garden
Companion Planting
Allelopathy: growth inhibition as the consequence of the influence of one organism on another; seldom found word, but it’s there in that one in seven dictionaries.
Banana skins to tickle the toes of a rose.
Cabbages make easy friends with thyme, rosemary, dill, onions and celery.
Dill was well known by the Egyptians. It attracts the bees.
Earwig with his two fierce pincers; he’ll make a mess of those plants.
Frogs are a must for your garden; they eat so many pests.
Gladioli will never make friends with your strawberries.
Hyssop leaves provide a ‘tea’ for bacterial disease.
Kohlrabi, a good companion for your beetroot.
Lacewings, ladybirds, lavender, leek, legumes, lemon balm and lettuce, lizards and lily-of-the-valley.
Marigold they say is everything for companion planting.
Nettles and newspapers are useful in your garden.
Oregano is no friend for the beetle: companion planting.
Potato and pumpkin have a clear and mutual animosity; no companion planting here then.
Quassia chip spray will do no harm where there are ladybirds.
Rue, ‘this herb of grace;’ pretty little lover of the sun.
Spiders: two thousand different species in our islands alone; a few, or many in our garden.
Turnips; if all else fails grow them, says the farmer.
Virus disease; milk powder made up as a spray could be a solution.
Wallflowers, wasps, water and woodchips; all in a good gardeners alphabet.
Yarrow works her magic through the element of copper.
Zucchini, Zucchini; aphids never let in with nasturtiums in your companion planting which costs nothing and does no harm.
Benita Kape © 19.4.2019
Nature is the boss says Brenda Little in her book Companion Planting and to whom I give credit for the information here.
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