I Believe in Plants

I believe in plants.

 

Not in a cute, “yay trees,” kind of way, I mean I believe in them. As in, plants are everywhere, quietly running the world, and most people have no idea. You might think you believe in plants too – but what do you actually know about them? Most of us walk past a patch of green and think “nice,” but that’s not “nice.” That’s an ancient, sun-powered, endlessly adaptive lifeform pulling matter from the sky and patiently waiting to reclaim your bones when you’re gone. I believe that deserves a lot more awe.

 

I grew up on a farm tucked into a forest, where plants were a closer part of my life than most. Over time, I realized that there are 11 different species of edible berries practically in my backyard. The huckleberries with their glossy redness, the blackberries extracting my blood in exchange for their juicy fruits… At first all I looked for was a snack. But since the berries ripen at different times, and I was an impatient little child, I ended up spending lots of time out there just so that I could get some berries before the birds did. Soon I started noticing more and more amazing things.

 

I still remember the day I first really looked – down at the moss, the lichen, the first floor. I discovered that there were more than half a dozen types right there in front of me, and that they all had different shapes, colours, and growth conditions. Then I learned that lichen isn’t even a plant, but a symbiotic relationship between an alga and a fungus! These types of things make the everyday world a beautiful, richer place for me, and it’s all because I believed in plants. I think that just because they don't walk or talk like we do – well, okay, there is a palm tree that can move up to 65 feet a year – plants easily slip under the radar if we’re not consciously paying attention.

 

And sure, we talk about carbon capture and climate solutions, but plants have been doing that effortlessly for millions of years. Pulling carbon straight out of the air, 3D printing their bodies from sunlight and sky. We’re frantically engineering what they already have. You could say we’re playing catchup with the ferns.

 

I didn’t get into plants because I was trying to be deep or eco-conscious or anything. I just started noticing fascinating stuff, then I couldn’t stop. And the more I pay attention to the plants, the more amazing it gets. Even now, walking through the woods or seeing a dandelion somehow flowering from a crack in the cement, I get that spark – the feeling like I’m in on some great secret. That the world is wilder and more alive than most of us remember to notice.

 

So yes, I believe in plants. I believe they’re doing the real work, and we’re lucky just to breathe the oxygen they make. (By splitting water molecules, by the way.) I believe they’re weird and clever and ancient and necessary. And I believe that if more people took the time to really look at what seems like a static green blur at first, they’d fall in love too.