We took a stroll around the garden… my son leaning on my shoulders, me grateful that I am just the right height to fit under his arm. Weather permitting, it has become a daily ritual since we planted his new flower beds. I cannot help but smile quietly when my hitherto clueless-about-gardening son comments on how well the heuchera is doing and notes that the ajuga reptans is in flower.
My younger son prefers to grow vegetables and nourishes an ambition to build a greenhouse in his garden. For his birthday, a few years ago, I bought him seed potatoes, cabbages and strawberries… and that was that; he loved growing food for his family. This year, for my elder son’s birthday, just before the lockdown, I filled his wall baskets with pansies, sweet-smelling dianthus and trailing campanula, rescued from the wilting racks of the supermarket.
I love that both my sons have found joy in growing things, though one grows for beauty and the other for the table. It is interesting to see how watching things grow illustrates their different characters. There is the same excitement from both of them, but while my younger son cannot wait to show me how tall his brassicas have grown, the elder is having learn to be patient as Nature takes her time as he waits for plants to bloom.
So, every day, my son and I tour his garden, watching the progress of every leaf and bud, from the discarded forget-me-nots I rescued from the alley behind his house, to the latest acquisition, the Abracadabra rose. We have watched the tight buds swell and begin to reveal glimpses of colour. The new gardener asks ‘when’… the old gardener is just glad the roses survived being transplanted at this time of year.
Continue reading at The Silent Eye
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
Very much like this one – “Living one day at a time; enjoying one moment at a time.”
LikeLike
Yes…so do I. 🙂
LikeLike
what priceless gifts to each son
LikeLike
It feels more like the other way around 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Funny how that works
LikeLike
Yet another gift 🙂
LikeLike
Love this ; One of the first things I started with were cherry Tomatoes which I found to be fascinating and very forgiving!
LikeLike
Herbs were probably the first thing I planted. Back then, I left tomatoes to Great Uncle John… whose allotments were a delight for a budding gardener.
LikeLike
The only two herbs I really got to grips with were mint (my favourite; though as I’m sure you’re well aware it does like to go rogue!) and coriander (my wife’s favourite, which only really worked well the first time I tried growing it ) . I forgot to label the pots properly so I’d started with about 10 packets of seeds ; a mix of flowers and herbs and maybe 100 pots, and it was pure carnage but great fun. The post really resonates because we live in an apartment now and it’s the one thing I really miss, but you’ve convinced me that I’m either going to do something really small scale on the window sill or put my name down for an allotment. I can’t do it until we move into our permanent residence, which won’t be too long now; Corona permitting! Take care & thanks again, Paul
LikeLike
Mint gets everywhere… even if you try and sequester it…but it is pretty as well as useful.
I’ve had gardens on windowsills… there is usually less geenfly, at least 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
What a lovely post, Sue. When my sons were small they would go with me to the nursery to buy my flowers and herbs each spring and then, when we arrived home, they would help me plant them. My youngest son would edge my gardens with bricks and even designed a couple of gardens he made as a gift to me. There is something about gardening with them that I miss today. My grandchildren have taken over and we get busy.
I love walking around my yard and checking out the budding bushes and perennials.
LikeLike
My sons planted birthday trees as children… and as memorials. I am glad that seems to have stayed with them. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wonderful post, Sue!
LikeLike
Thanks, Jennie.
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome, Sue.
LikeLike
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person