Touchy-Feelie

Lately I've been thinking about an often neglected dimension of plants - the tactile dimension. I've always been attracted to tactilely interesting plants - plants that feel good! One of my first experiences was with the velvety inflorescences of a Salvia leucantha in my aunt and uncle's garden. But leaves have been on my mind recently with so many Winter-dormant plants leafing out and today I went around my garden touching as many leaves as I could easily reach. I was surprised to find out how many of them I'd never really spent a lot of time touching. Even ones that I'd been initially attracted to for leaf texture, such as Soft Snapdragon (Antirrhinum molle) and Superstition Mallow (Abutilon palmeri), I hadn't been touching as often as I should. Anyway I had a lot of fun, rediscovering old favorites and new. Touching a leaf is a more engaging experience than touching fabrics or fibers (as pleasurable as that can be) because a leaf on a plant is alive. The leaf is an organic structure that is in motion, involved in respiring, photosynthesizing, etc. all underneath your hand. Maybe the reason the tactile component of plants is often not mentioned is because most people don't walk around their gardens touching and sniffing their plants. But I think those of us who do would highly recommend it to those who don't!