Growing up, I remember my grandmother always talking about plants. Her antique table was covered with african violets that she had rooted from friends plants. Her front yard contained colorful zinnias by the hundreds every summer and her back yard, although small contained many perennials that had been passed down to her, as well as some beautiful rose bushes, one that she rooted herself and named after my daughter Ashleigh, a baby at that time. She took trips all over the country and to Europe. She had many pictures of the gardens that she toured and the scenery, none of which interested me very much at the time. I was busy with kid's stuff and eventually becoming a mom with two little ones to raise on my own as well as college. After I married and had a house of my own, she would come over and give me little tips on my annuals, which were not too impressive. It didn't matter to me. I was just putting them out because that's what you do when you have your own little house. It's how I grew up. She even brought over some bags of coral bell roots on my birthday. I thought that was strange. Why would she want to give me that?

Her health began to decline and she had acquired bowel cancer. No one knew. She didn't tell us her diagnosis. She passed away a few years later. My new husband and I went to her house after the funeral and knowing that the house would be sold soon, took a few plants, a peony that had been there since I was little and her treasured Ashleigh rosebush. That was in June of 1996. On Jan 1997, I was sitting on the couch thinking about the loss of her that year as well as an uncle that had been killed in a plane crash. I had a terrible panic attack and started to black out. The panic attacks escalated and became so intense and frequent that it made it almost impossible for me to even go outside of my own house. So I started watching shows that calmed me down and found that nature, gardening and similar books or tv shows gave me a feeling of peace and tranquility.

Well I gained a lot of knowledge while being confined and knew that I had a bare acre of land at my fingertips and a lot of ideas that I was excited about. I mapped out on paper different areas of my yard and researched the plants that I loved, most of them old fashioned cottage garden plants. I went outside little by little and started to plant tulip bulbs. I could feel the ground tilting under me due to the panic symptoms and sometimes had to run back to the house where the symptoms would soon diminish, but I got it done and soon moved on to bigger flowerbeds and growing my own seeds and plants. I now treasure those coral bells that she gave me and have moved them to several beds and shared them with friends. Just this Spring I got the nerve to move the Ashleigh rose and while digging it up separated it into four separate plants. They all bloomed for me this summer.Now my daughter Ashleigh has a family and a home of her own where she will get a division of that plant as well as some coral bells and peonies that were her great grandmothers.

I now have flowerbeds all around my house and my husband has his as well. I have my grandmother's old porch swing under a tree in my front yard as well. I have people that come to my plant sales in the Spring and Summer that tell me that they love to drive by and see all the flowers and even people that come by just to walk around the property and see everything. I have my grandmother to thank for leaving me with that appreciation and I hope she can see what I have done. I wish I could thank her for her influence and passing along her green thumb to me. I wish I could tell her that I get it now and show her the pictures that I take of flowers. I think that the best way to thank her would be to pass along this to my children and grandchildren. My daughter and I have talked about doing a rose garden at her house. She loves orange flowers. I would love to find roses with the name of her children. My grandson just turned three and I bet he would like the giant sunflowers.

So even if you think your children or grandchildren don't "get it", keep showing them and giving them advice and pass down your treasured plants that someone passed along to you. Someday they will thank you for the peace that they find in their garden.