future pollinators .

 I've been sick and bedridden, but the first thing I wanted to do when I felt better was visit the garden. Just when I think it’s reached its peak beauty, it surprises me with the dance of flowers going to seed and new species emerging from the ground.

This year, we decided to transform an unused plot of land behind our shared home in Berlin. We let it grow wild, except for patches where we planted vegetables and selected flowers like nasturtium. The most important thing we did is simply enriched and loosened the soil, that was all the work necessary. Konstantin is studying Horticulture, and I am blessed to be learning so much from him. Now, countless plants have self-seeded, from the tiny scarlet pimpernel to the towering king’s candles—taller than Konstantin, and he’s tall in my scale...I’ve tried to identify them all, but sometimes I feel like I can't catch up, or get overwhelmed.

The only thing that makes this sweet experience bitter is the amount of butterflies and other insects that we’ve encountered this summer. It is so little in comparison to the amount of flora taking over the patch of land, the poor bees cant keep up with work (but they are there, all buzzing, always busy). 

I had been thinking a lot about flies in the past, preparing my graduation project at the master studies in Iceland, where I tried to befriend a fly inhabiting my home. It makes my mind wonder: what if flies become primary pollinators, following the flowers evolving to attract them with scents of compost or decay? Flies thrive on the waste we leave behind (as humans we tend to leave so much of it), becoming our constant, often unwelcome companions, no matter where we live.

At home, we have two notably pungent plants: the Gynura purple, with flowers that smell like old gym socks forgotten in the locker for summer holiday, and Stapelia variegata, whose fishy scent captivated us so much we took a cutting of the plant from the botanical garden. 

I am still recovering from the sickness so this is enough of brain work for today, but I will come back to it; if any of you reading have some recommendations on future pollinators, possible, plausible, probable, or completely fictitious, please reach out to me!

x ma

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