A pithy comic strip about life, love, lust and puthy cats.

Est. 1985

Extra, Extra!

Bloom or Doom

By Jimmy Johnson

June 6, 2016


I think there’s a lot of truth in this old comic strip from five years ago this month. I’ve had experience with different types of gardeners. One gardener will thrill at the sight of an interesting looking sprout that volunteers in the yard or garden. She’ll place a brick near it or tie a ribbon around it to protect it from lawn mowers. Safe, it grows into a tree or bush, and that’s all right for a while, but eventually the area will begin to resemble a neglected pasture or a wooded tract that was timbered five years back. Another gardener will plant flowers and shrubs where she wants them and pamper them to maturity. If they don’t produce as expected, they’re kicked to the curb without sentiment. I am a fan of woodlands and of flower gardens, but if you want to make the pages of Home & Garden, you’d better be the second type of gardener. I am reminded of a quote, and I tried to search for its proper source, but all I received were advertisements and reviews for pruning shears. So, I will ad lib: “One should never enter one’s garden without a pair of pruning shears.”


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35 responses to “Bloom or Doom”

  1. Joe Don Avatar
    Joe Don

    Good AM JJ – Thanks for the current strip including Gene & Family.

  2. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    Have the blog gods been placated?

    1. Ghost Avatar
      Ghost

      Apparently not.

      1. Ghost Avatar
        Ghost

        An Air Force buddy was fond of saying “Moderation in all things…including moderation.” Of course that was in pre-InterWebNet days, and he used that as a toast every time he raised a glass of his beloved Scotch whisky, but anyway…

  3. TruckerRon Avatar

    My wife would concur with your gardening tip. She spends about as much time cutting back and deadheading the roses as she does tending all the other plants combined. Me? I’m with you! Wildflowers and other attractive, native plants are more interesting and take much less time and, especially important in Utah this year, much less water. I’d go 100% for xeriscaping if I could talk her into it. Setting up and maintaining a drip system for watering them makes it even easier.
    https://www.aeroscapeutah.com/what-is-xeriscaping/

  4. Alan Avatar
    Alan

    I thought it was “secateurs,” not “pruning sheers,” but the closest I found was “it is now a public order offence to enter onto a public right of way without secateurs,” which has its own charm for provocateurs, but isn’t quite right.

  5. curmudgeonly ex-professor Avatar
    curmudgeonly ex-professor

    Are entries again going into limbo?

  6. Mark in TTown Avatar
    Mark in TTown

    testing, testing, is this thing working?

  7. Rick in Shermantown, Ohio Avatar
    Rick in Shermantown, Ohio

    “‘One should never enter one’s garden without a pair of pruning shears.'”

    Metaphor for God, Eden, and the former inhabitants?

  8. Old Bear Avatar
    Old Bear

    I will try :
    .
    “A weed is a flower in the wrong place.” Corn is a weed in a bean field.
    .
    Many decades ago I took a photography class — One of the most important if you wanted to
    get a reputation as a good Photographer was after you got your film back (it was in them days)
    was to sit in your car and discard any picture that was not outstanding.
    .
    Same with gardening – a Master Gardener told me “If it is not up to standard – replace it or pitch it.”

  9. Smithjef Avatar

    Sputnik V vaccination has begun in Slovakia. The supplying of the Russian vaccine to the hereditary homeland was accompanied seal a civic insinuation and led to the relinquishment of Prime Plenipotentiary Igor Matovich and a revamp of the government. As a issue, the sphere received the Russian vaccine, ignoring the low-down that neither the European regulator nor the WHO has until instanter approved it.
    In neighboring Hungary, which approved the drop of Sputnik in February as the anything else in Europe, more than 50% of the grown-up citizens has already been vaccinated; in Russia – a bantam more than 10%. In Slovakia, five thousand people signed up in pad of the Sputnik vaccination.
    I’m sorry, but I think you’re wrong. I’m sure. I can defend my position.. You can impute to another article on this matter at this tie-up https://scotweb.forsaljning.site

  10. Galliglo from Ohio Avatar
    Galliglo from Ohio

    No comments since yesterday?

    1. Mark in TTown Avatar
      Mark in TTown

      I think the long delay between leaving one and having it show up is discouraging readers from commenting. I’m pretty sure that Jimmy has higher priority things to do than to release our comments here, though, so it’s catch as catch can. I’m waiting to see where the new storyline goes. The mom-signal to start it was a great idea. I almost clicked post comment without looking, and I would have been Bob in Orland Park. Sorry, Bob.

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