May

      It is May…time for Mother’s Day.  My mother passed away several years ago and I miss her.  I probably owe my love of nature to her.  She loved the outdoors and was a great gardener.  She and my dad grew enough vegetables to feed the neighborhood.  When I was very young, my mother often let me choose a pack of flower seeds to plant.  Sometimes I planted zinnias, but most often I chose marigolds.  I planted them along the sidewalk that led to our front porch.  It is important for a child to plant seeds, to nurture something and watch it grow.  No matter how far I’ve come as a gardener, I still plant marigolds.  Marigolds are such humble little flowers, like my childhood, but butterflies and bees like them, so I do too.  I’m not sure if I plant marigolds for myself, for my childhood or for my mother, but I will plant marigolds this year, and the next, and the next.