A Garden Tour from Half a Century Ago.

 

 When I got married,

I had an image in my mind.

It was something like this:

waking up and walking outside,

strolling through gardens of beautifully scented blooming flowers,

picking a fresh bouquet,

and setting them on the table in a cheerful vase

to brighten our home.

The only problem was

the first house we bought had no flowers

or bushes

or anything pretty.  

It had one tree

and even that was full of carpenter ants.

I wanted to make our yard beautiful

but

if you've ever been to a nursery,

sticks with leaves growing out of them

aren't cheap.

We lived on a tight budget;

plants weren't anywhere in it.

 Then one day

my sister came over and helped me build a flower bed 

with some plants of hers;

she was moving out of state

and didn't want to leave her plant investment

at the house they had rented.

I was in love.

They were bleeding hearts.

When my father-in-law gave me some information

by Michael McGroarty

on "How to start your own backyard nursery,"

I was intrigued.

 

Thus began my adventure in learning

and loving

plants.

That was 12 years ago.

Today I have a small business of a roadside stand

and a two-day plant sale.

And it feeds my gardens as well.

 I never dreamed I'd have a yard like we do...

 with gardens that are fun to walk through;

and I enjoy seeing other people

as well as our own kids

enjoying them as much as I do.

 Each garden bed I dig and surround with stone

I say 

"This is going to be my last,

no more.

Enough is enough."

 but then I find solace in building

"just one more."

 

 I love growing and selling plants.

It amazes me that a stick with stringy roots can be 

pushed into the ground

and God sends incredible, colorful life out of it.

We keep our prices low at our plant sale.

There's a great feeling in seeing young couples shop

and then leave happy,

with flowers that will become

bouquets on their dinner table.

I know that feeling of hope and anticipation

and excitement over having a plant of one's own.

 There are always older couples who come to our plant sale:

laughing;

her looking and reading plant tags,

deep in thought;

him with an arm full of green pots of hope.

I enjoy watching them tease

and chatter

and then discuss their own gardens with me.

I feel like a stranger who has momentarily been 

allowed in as family.

 As I was talking with a man about raspberries at our sale on the weekend before Mothers' Day,

I noticed a lady standing off a few feet,

staring at us.

I wondered if she was confused by what I was saying about the raspberries

or if she was afraid he was going to buy them all.

Why was she watching us so intently?

 I looked her way

and,

strangely,

she asked me if I liked living here.

 I responded,

"I feel like I'm living in paradise.

I wake up and feel like I need to pinch myself

because I can't believe it's true."

I told her about how our first house was a cute house on a nice

piece of land,

but this was better than I could have even imagined would be true.

 Her eyes sparkled

and,

as if she could not contain herself any longer,

she told me that her grandparents used to own our home back in the fifties.

As she told me stories of a happy childhood visiting her grandmother here,

I offered to let her see the inside of the house,

and she excitedly answered,

"Oh, could I?"

 As she and her sister (who had come with her to the plant sale) toured the rooms,

they took me with them to the memories they cherished in each of them...

the Christmas dinners,

the men snoozing while the women did the dishes,

the Christmas tree in the corner,

the chilly nights they spent upstairs

under stacks of blankets in bedrooms with no heat.

 When they finished their tour and left the house,

the lady turned to me with tears in her eyes and thanked me.

She said it was the best Mother's Day gift she could have.

And then she said something that made my day bright;

she said,

"I wish Grandma was here to see what you've done to the yard.

She loved flower gardens and had them everywhere.

She'd be so pleased to know that you cared for flowers

as much as she did."

It put a smile in my heart to know that the beauty of flowers,

a priceless gift from God,

carries with them the sweet scent of today

that mingles with the warm embrace

of women who have passed on before

and given cherished memories in the love of simple things:..

a fresh bouquet of flowers.





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