i wish plant life would grow all around me

Indigo set about choosing places for his flowering plants while Iolaire unloaded the wagon of the poles and skin. She nodded in agreement. "Get to it then. Be very gentle with the roots. Don't pack the dirt too tightly around it, but close enough so that it can stand upright without falling over."


Taking the mint plant in its big turtle shell dish, Io situated it at the back corner of the garden. She sat the shell in the dirt, allowing the moist earth to form around it so that there was no chance of the wind bowling it over. Stepping back a few paces, the woman looked to the sky, then back to the plant. As she worked, she explained. "This is to shade your mint plant in the evenings until we can get you a little tree." The dark woman stuck the two poles into the earth, sinking them as deep as she could. "If we look at the position of the sun now, we can guess where its position might end up in the afternoon." With a little bit of hopping, she flung the skin over the poles. "Now you have a shade."

With the shade in place, she went to check his progress on planting his choices. She nodded in approval. "Well done."