My brother, Into my garden, Come! And Hurry!

My brother and sister-in-law are coming for a visit soon. When the first luffa fruit showed up, we hoped it would be ready for them when they come, little did we know that it was ready almost two weeks ago.  It grew faster than we expected, thanks to the hot weather that we had.  Some like it hot; luffa it is.  We decided to keep it for its seeds; it is still hanging there now.

We enjoyed the second luffa that was ripe a few days ago; the best luffa we ever indulged.  Today we harvested four more luffas; they certainly grew much faster than my brother’s coming.

Emily Dickinson wrote to her brother,

Prithee, my brother

Into my garden come!

I would say to my brother,

Prithee, my brother

Into my garden come!

And hurry!

Dr. Liang lamented that for three days in a row, there were many female luffa flowers and yet male flowers were nowhere to be found.  It is indeed a garden of  陰勝陽衰.  Taking on Charles’s great idea, we asked Dr. Liang to use the male luffa flowers from our garden to pollinate his female flowers.  This is how we gardeners collaborate.

Bringing 18 male luffa flowers, Katy met Dr. and Mrs. Liang at Washington, PA.  We also gave Dr. and Mrs. Liang two luffa fruits to make the trip worth their while.

Armed with the 18 male flowers after lunch they hurried back to pollinate.  Dr. Liang LINEed back saying the pollination was a success; the shy female flowers say they are pregnant (有喜—“having happiness”).  Mission accomplished!