My Garden Interview - Part 2

...A continuation of my hypothetical interview...

***i'm currently reading an older garden book titled, "Gardening From The Heart - Why Gardeners Garden" by Carol Olwell. The reason for this book is interesting, because, as she points out, gardening is hard work,

considered pretty much low grade manual labor, and is rarely lucrative -

so why do we do it? She compiles the story of many gardeners who were interviewed for this book. i am barely past the introduction, but i feel compelled to put into words how i myself came to be a gardener, and why....***

Q: Did anyone inspire you?

After living in an apartment for several years, surrounded by houseplants, we moved into a little house with a little yard, and i began to think beyond only houseplants and veggies. Flower boxes, hanging baskets, perennials...Around that time i met Adrian, my new boss at work. She wasn't a typical boss, she was full of fun and had a great laugh, as if she had just heard a dirty joke! She was fairly spiritual, believed in the paranormal,.. and gardened. When she talked about some of her plants, she would describe them in detail and with such excitement that i started to realize that i had that same passion, too, but had kept it inside because i hadn't realized that anyone else felt that way, and, evidently it released my inner "Plant Maniac"! i eventually acquired several plants from her, and still have them today, almost 20 years later. We lost touch, and i don't think Adrian ever knew what an influence she had on me - i didn't even know at the time,either! But i think of her -every year - when her Festiva Maxima Peony blooms in my yard.

Also, my husband's grandparents lived on a farm (a REAL one), and they were also a big inspiration to me during all of the years i was fortunate enough to share with them.

A start was all i needed, and soon the yard was filled with hundreds of plants, many grown from seed, and many shade loving plants (Our yard was 80% shade). i built a coldframe and an arbor using PVC pipe, we attached white vinyl lattice (when it was first available around here and pretty expensive!) to the chain link fence around the backyard, making it more

private, and ringed the beds in red and grey bricks.

My coldframe

It was a tiny yard, but a wonderful sanctuary, much more than i realized at the time.... When my husband was diagnosed one June with cancer at the age of 40, i think i was devastated even more than he was - we knew nothing about cancer, i just assumed i would be a widow in a short time! Having that garden to retreat to was the only thing that kept me sane! (By the way, we know a lot more about cancer these days -plus he is now 56 and is, i'm happy to say, still around to bother me!).

My Garden Interview - Part 1

***i'm currently reading an older garden book titled, "Gardening From The Heart - Why Gardeners Garden" by Carol Olwell. The reason for this book is interesting, because, as she points out, gardening is hard work,

considered pretty much low grade manual labor, and is rarely lucrative -

so why do we do it? She compiles the story of many gardeners who were interviewed for this book. i am barely past the introduction, but i feel compelled to put into words how i myself came to be a gardener, and why....***

Q: How did you become a gardener?

N: First of all, i need to point out that it was never really a conscious decision to "go forth and garden!"

i never knew my grandparents on my father's side, but i do know they were avid gardeners, so i'm thinking i had it "in my blood", since i sure as heck know it wasn't thru my parents! They didn't even like to be outside! i think Mom took me to the park several times when i was young,

and they liked to sit out on the porch in the evenings in warm weather, and THAT was probably only because we didn't have air conditioning back then, and it was the only way to stay cool! We had a fairly large and swampy back yard- (this is the Black Swamp area, after all) , but except

for some hideous foundation plantings of evergreens, one Poplar tree, one rose bush and one white Spirea, that's all there was in the whole area! Being an only child with few neighbor children, i spent many long

days in that backyard on my own, getting hundreds of mosquito bites and black bare feet from the muddy yard - how i didn't end up with Hepatitis or some '60's equivalent of the West Nile virus is beyond me.

Anyway, we were visiting my uncle's house one summer day, and my cousin and i walked into one of the farm fields surrounding their property. She told me that they knew the owners of the fields, and that they were

allowed to pick some of the produce out of the fields if they wanted (whether that was true or not, i never really knew...Being 12 and very naive, i didn't question it ). She picked a tomato right off the vine

and handed it to me, and actually had to instruct me to eat it right there, as i just looked at it for a second - i had only seen tomatoes in salads before that (yes, i had an extremely sheltered childhood!). When i bit into that beautifully ripe, warm tomato, standing in the middle of

that field, that experience it was so awesome that i had an epiphany of sorts - and actually changed the course of my life! i did not immediately know what to do about this new feeling, but within about 2 years, i had a small vegetable garden plot in our backyard.

i did have somewhat of a social life in my late teens, so of course with other things on my mind, i didn't have as much time to garden. Until after i was married - and for a few years we lived in an apartment, so except for the 40 or so houseplants i acquired, i did not do much gardening. i tried to keep my plot going at my parents' house, but they wanted to stay inside when i was there and expected me to sit inside and visit with them! So that was not feasible for very long.

CONTINUED SOON

i used to have quite the T shirt collection. Radio stations, comic book characters (still have my "Elfquest" shirts!), rock bands, etc. Of course, that included my gardening interests, too - but i didn't go for " Happiness is Gardening" or "Gardeners Have The Best Dirt" - noo..my humor is a little different...

Don't know if this company's even still in business, but i loved the shirt! i don't really wear it much anymore - my "tomatoes" don't really line up! LOL

...And from my favorite nursery, Plant Delights, came this funny ( but sensible) play on words. If you're not sure, an 'annual' is a plant that lives only one season and dies. A lot of folks in my area spend tons of money on flat after flat of 'tunias and marigolds (for "color"), and do it all over again the next spring. Hey, i buy 'em too - after all, that's how most nurseries make the majority of their income - but i also use a lot of perennials (that come back in the Spring) so i don't have to buy everything yearly!

But, whatever you gardening humor, or no matter how i feel about it, just plant SOMETHING!

...And You Actually Wonder Why I Love Gardening? Seriously?

Amour In The Garden

Today, my wedding anniversary, got me thinking about several plants (or cultivars) i have in which the names involve "love" themes. These are a few i have:

i grew Cardiospermum halicacabum, AKA Love In A Puff or Heartseed Vine, for the first time last season, thinking it was perennial. Well, it didn't come back, but the seeds i saved sprouted slowly but easily for me, so i do still have it. I was impressed by this little (up to 8 feet) vine.The leaves are a very elegant shape, and the seedpods are three sided puffballs.

The flowers are not so great - tiny, delicate, and white, but it didn't really bother me. Then when i saw the seeds! - well, i didn't research this one well, i figured the name came about because of the seedpods' shape, but that wasn't all! The seeds are about 4mm in diameter, very dark, nearly black, except for a white HEART shaped mark on each one!

That clinched it - i will be growing this one for a long time!

Then there's Love In A Mist (Nigella), which has that elusive sky blue color of blossoms seldom seen in the garden. (There are also pinks and whites available, but the blue is all i want!) This is what i call a "perennial annual" because, even though each plant is annual, it seeds itself so enthusiastically that you'll never be without it again! This, like Perilla, doesn't bother me with its reseeding. It is easy to pull out and shows up in places like pots and flower beds where i leave it until after it blooms.

The foliage is so ferny that it does look like mist, and then when the seedpods form, they look like little striped hot air balloons, thus the reason it is also sometimes called "Love In A Puff". The dried seedpods are used a lot in floral arrangements.

First grown in the United States by Thomas Jefferson, Kiss-Me-Over-The-Garden-Gate,(Polygonum orientale), is also an annual old cottage garden favorite, but the plant is not found in cultivation very often.

Of course, when i first heard the name, i had to find it! It is, of course, growing by the garden gate, where it reaches heights of around 8 feet, and droops its long clusters of bright pink flowers above my head. It also reseeds, though in my experience not a whole lot, just enough to keep it going.

i also want, though have not been able to find, the Hosta cultivar "Illicit Affair". Is it an outstanding variety? Not so much - just want to tell visitors, "I wanted to have an Illicit Affair in the garden, and all I got was this stupid Hosta!"