Well, he is not really of course. He does enjoy pottering around in the garden. So why am I calling him a master gardener. Let me tell you. My dad buys my mum roses on special occasions. Long stemmed beautiful roses. Red for the years they have been together, white for the four children they have, yellow for the children in law and pink for the grandchildren! Big, big bunches of roses!
These roses do not get thrown out after they are - well let's just say - past their prime. Oh no. My dad puts the stems in water and waits patiently for them to sprout some roots. After that happens (it does not work every time, mind you, some just go horribly bad) he carefully places them in the soil of the garden and watches what happens next.
Most of the time, our two dogs neatly take care of the small plants. Mostly Sjors (the boy) by giving them some extra "water" from time to time. Unfortunately this does not go down well with the roses, who quickly perish....
But sometimes, just sometimes this happens:
A beautiful white rose, managed to survive all the abuse the dogs gave it. It turned out to be a long stemmed rose.
Because of my dad's - well lets call it a hobby shall we? - our whole garden is full of things like this. You never know what will come up and where. Every plant in our house will end up in the garden. Orchids (that will not grow here), honeysuckle (no idea where that came from), hydrangea (several in different colours), but also the plantlife in Christmas table pieces (growing like crazy by the way).
It also applies to fruit and veg by the way. Just look at the size of those raspberries ripening in the sun. Or see the total bush of the raspberry plant....it came as a sweet little plant......
He has also managed to plant a plum. So we now have a plum tree in the garden. Because we have no idea how to tend to a plum tree, it gives only small yellow plums that seem to be mostly of interest for birds and wasps.
Our garden is invaded by strawberries as well. Wild ones and cultivated ones. If only we could harness some of that growing power for the vegetables! They do not grow at al well. He has tried tomatoes (two tomatoes.....), salad leafs ("You have to let some go to seed".....) and cabbages (food for the worms).
And me? Well I just look on in wonder and amazement!
Have a lovely day.
Heleen
These roses do not get thrown out after they are - well let's just say - past their prime. Oh no. My dad puts the stems in water and waits patiently for them to sprout some roots. After that happens (it does not work every time, mind you, some just go horribly bad) he carefully places them in the soil of the garden and watches what happens next.
Most of the time, our two dogs neatly take care of the small plants. Mostly Sjors (the boy) by giving them some extra "water" from time to time. Unfortunately this does not go down well with the roses, who quickly perish....
 |
| This really was a long stemmed rose in the vase. It turned into a bush! |
But sometimes, just sometimes this happens:
Because of my dad's - well lets call it a hobby shall we? - our whole garden is full of things like this. You never know what will come up and where. Every plant in our house will end up in the garden. Orchids (that will not grow here), honeysuckle (no idea where that came from), hydrangea (several in different colours), but also the plantlife in Christmas table pieces (growing like crazy by the way).
He has also managed to plant a plum. So we now have a plum tree in the garden. Because we have no idea how to tend to a plum tree, it gives only small yellow plums that seem to be mostly of interest for birds and wasps.
Our garden is invaded by strawberries as well. Wild ones and cultivated ones. If only we could harness some of that growing power for the vegetables! They do not grow at al well. He has tried tomatoes (two tomatoes.....), salad leafs ("You have to let some go to seed".....) and cabbages (food for the worms).
And me? Well I just look on in wonder and amazement!
Have a lovely day.
Heleen
Alas, this is not a trait inherited by his eldest daughter, i.e. me. All plants tend to die around me, including artificial plants......
ReplyDeleteHis second grandchild, my daughter Emma, gets to eat the first strawberries out of her grandfather's garden. A real treat for her, a fantastic tradition for our family. Maybe I can get Dad to look after a part of my new and very big garden.....