what is the plant that you personally think is the most genuine pleasure to care for
YO GOOD ASK
last weekend i was up in boulder giving a talk at a really tiny games festival at the university (shoutouts), and after the event they took me out for dinner and drinks. being boulder, colorado, some of the faculty were both several beers deep and also a joint or two in. at one point, one of them looked me dead in the eyes across the table in the middle of a completely different discussion and was like "what's your favorite tree" and i was like "BRO I HAVE OPINIONS ON THIS". same energy
anyway, genuine pleasure to care for is such a different thing than "favorite" or "that you love", because it denotes an ongoing relationship that unfolds over time. i love a lot of annuals (what's up sunflowers, amaranth, squash plants, sorghum) but our relationship is really just "stick some seeds in the ground, keep watered, cut when appropriate, feed to humans or sheep or both, save seeds for next year". i also have a number of plants that are a PAIN to care for, that i do love, but yikes. but a pleasure....
it's basic, but i have a rose bush that i adore, that does require pruning and deadheading and all the rest but that blooms from april to december. we have, if not a daily relationship, an ongoing one.
i also grew hops for the first time this year, which was such a treat. fun weird plant, harvested the hops a few weeks ago, now they're going in all my sparkly water. we're new, but it's a perennial that sends up huge climbing vines every year only to have them be cut or freeze back, which is cool imo. smells great and weird. i have hopes for our relationship.
