I got my love of gardening from my mom. She always had a garden. Although the one where I spent most of my childhood was more shady than she would have liked, she worked with what she had. She also put me to work with her. When I was 8 or 9 years old, she showed me how to plant a scale from a potted Easter Lily. I still remember how thrilled I was when it bloomed.
When I was 12 or 13, mom rented a garden plot on a farm, as she was tired of fighting the shade. She recruited me to help in her vegetable garden fantasy. We were both ignorant of the benefits of mulch, so my memories of that summer revolve around pulling weeds. In spite of that shortcoming, the garden flourished. One of the best soils in the world yielded tons of Tomatoes, more Eggplant than any family of 7 could ever eat, enough Zucchini to keep a small bakery in Zucchini bread, and, as my personal achievement, a few ears of corn. It was, quite simply, too much. Mom scaled back her vegetable garden efforts after that.
I think that summer put me off growing a major vegetable garden for life, but my ornamental garden dreams merely lay dormant during my sojourn as an urban apartment dweller. My passion for gardening matured when I got my own bit of earth and has eclipsed my mom's. She now frequently asks me to identify a plant in her garden, the result of her pulling an Aster I gave her by mistaking it for a common weed.
As Mom has gotten older and busier, she has needed help with her garden. I think my efforts go only a small way toward repaying the debt I owe her for teaching me about plants and gardens. This year when I went to do Spring garden cleanup for her, she asked me to pick up a new trellis for her Clematis 'Jackmanii' to replace the ratty looking wooden thing she had been using.
This was the perfect time to replace the trellis, as the Clematis needed to be cut back. The new trellis is a vast improvement.
I also cleaned up the garden. Here's the "before" shot of the border on the east side of the house.
I took this photo last week: much better.
Mom, thanks for making me help you, even for dragging me out to the farm in the blazing heat of summer. You've given me a lasting gift which I hope I can pass on to my children. Happy Mother's Day, I love you!