PLANTS AS FRIENDS

The star of the show.

This is my garden. And in mid to late October the tree after which this blog is named is the star of the show.

As David has explained in previous posts the acer became ours as a way of honouring our memories of our cat Smeagol, so it has always been an important part of the garden. Now it also celebrates my mother, Elizabeth. Four years ago, the week the leaves really blazed and started to fall coincided with the last few days of Elizabeth’s life. I was staying with my mother, as was my sister, Caroline. David let me know how beautiful the tree was looking. Since then at the same time of year, every year, the tree sings its beauty more and more loudly. And every time, I remember my mother’s last few days; how I was held by my home, by David. I could be away, I could be experiencing pain, but I was held. I thank David every year at this time for the support he gave me in the years I looked out for my mother. Without his support, I would not have experienced the relationship I had with Elizabeth, I’m so glad we had what we had.

Plants do that too. Support us. Give us time. Tell us who we are. What we value. And they are a link between me and my mother and with my sister and with Elizabeth’s many friends and her dearest cousin Jennifer who, as a professional nurserywoman, inspired my own move into horticulture.

Our gardens are full of connections to people. You might have an idea for your garden design and then someone important to you gives you a plant which wasn’t part of the plan. But as David would say, what are plans for? So our gardens become jumbles of memories. And jumbly is the very best thing a garden can be. I am proud of the jumble you can see here in this picture. Proud that I have to gingerly re-establish a path wide enough to get myself and the wheelie bin out every week or two. I cut back as little as possible. There are plenty of seeds for visiting finches and hiding places for the insects who are seeing through their life cycles among the debris, or in the ivy. And I love all the associations, mostly with my mother but my sister too and the people I’ve worked for and with: friends.