Because I have a frost forecast for tonight, I’m lifting dahlias whilst I have some time. This one is a huge yellow dinnerplate called Kelvin‘s Floodlight. They’re huge, so I use bamboo canes to support them.
So what’s the cautionary tale? Many years ago, my mother used to grow beautiful geraniums on our terrace in South London. One night she was out, and there was a frost forecast, so she asked me to move them in. As I was doing so, I bent down and felt a sharp jab in my right eye. It was one of Mother‘s broken bamboo canes, she didn’t use the rubber caps that go on the end. I didn’t think anything more about it… until the next day, when I couldn’t open my eye on account of the pain and swelling. We went off to the hospital, where fortunately (and by good luck, it being a Saturday) there was an eye surgeon available. I had surgery on my right eye to remove loads of bamboo splinters, and to try to repair the damage. I had a huge pad over the eye, and had to wear dark glasses from roughly late October till early March, because it healed so slowly and became infected. If you use bamboo canes, always use the rubber cap!
by FenianBastard847
9 Comments
Caught myself in the collarbone in a very similar way a few weeks back. Felt like I’d been impaled.
Managed to get caught on the forehead the other day by one supporting my chillis, I doubt I’ll have learnt my lesson though and will do the same next year
I feel your pain! I did that a few times myself. I put all kinds on the ends of my canes, tennis balls, empty drink can, pop bottle, whatever is to hand.
I had a close call a few years ago but it missed my eye and cap all mine now, glad your eye was ok!
I can tell a similar tale, mine involved the intake of an injudicious amount of alcohol and an attractive dark-haired lady. If I had only used the rubber cap!
I did exactly this. Bent over and jabbed a bamboo in my eye. Wife made me a cup of tea while I sat down to recover from the shock. Raised the cup to my lips and jabbed myself in my other eye with a pencil I was holding at the time.
Gave up after that
I haven’t lifted my dahlias for years and they always come back.
Other things to bear in mind when ‘midnight gardening’. I often try to get jobs done out on the veg garden after work and during the summer that’s fine. However, it’s dark now so all those “I’ll do it later” little jobs I should have done: Get a decent head torch, get some marker lights, tidy up any brash or loose stuff… Over the years I have: trodden on a lump of wood with a nail sticking out straight through the sole of my wellly boot – fortunately it missed my foot, snagged my back on screws sticking out of frames, chicken wire in the face, bramble thorns in my scalp, classic rake in the nuts after treading on one, tripped over hoses, broken greenhouse panels by leaving them in the wrong place… They say gardening is good for you… Edit: got shut in the shed once because something lodged behind the door and I couldn’t open it. Nobody else around so I had to boot a hole in a weak spot in the wall to get out.
Yeah I always use the caps. The bamboo is lethal push into the ground