Garden Growth

A lot can happen in 4 years.

Garden Memberships and Volunteerism

If I could, I probably would join every public garden in the US, if not the world! Not only do I enjoy their newsletters, plant sales, events and seed sales, but part of me always longs to visit them too. In my area alone I belong to the Portland Classical Chinese Garden, the Portland Japanese Garden, the Berry Botanic Garden and the Leach Botanical Garden. In addition, I belong to the Hardy Plant Society of Oregon and the Portland Rose Society. This just sounds crazy, but I simply cannot live without them! In a way, this all allows me to stay in touch with the world when so much of my time is spent resting on the couch or otherwise. If I could right now, I really would like to earn a Master's in landscape architecture, but my health just won't allow for this until the plasma product is available.

I am a member of the Garden Conservancy as well as the American Horticultural Society. They do so many good things, I just cannot say enough about them and they really inspire me to want more out of my own life and garden. Years ago, while visiting Alcatraz Island, I longed to see what the gardens had once looked like, and now, the Garden Conservancy is helping to make that happen. The American Horticultural Society really tries to tie our nation of gardeners together and is run out of one of George Washington's farms. Although I love this kind of tradition, being a 22-generation American on the one hand, I would love to see a bit more of the West too since that is where my heart and soul are for the time being.

The volunteering part is often the hardest part for me. I would love to be able to help them all more, but I just cannot. Things being what they are right now, I have to try to make a living as much as I can. No matter what happens, though, I will continue to renew my memberships again and again.

Favorite 4th flower

This should be the official flower of the 4th of July. It is Allium "Hair" and I would never leave my home without it. (The last time I moved, I packed my plants first.)

Carduni aka Cardoons

Uncle Joe didn't live long enough to eat the fried little treats, but nevertheless, that summer, we ate the carduni without him. He had been so excited to hear about my wonderful Sicilian-American husband, a non-relation from California, of good Sicilian ancestry of course, that the fact that he was also a trained cook was secondary, but it wasn't so bad either. If only Pietro could go and show that man-called-a-cook at the retirement center how to cook pasta. That was what Joe wanted most of all, just plain decent everyday food. Every time we saw Joe, it was either a plea for help from him asking us to deal with the kitchen staff where he lived, or else he had a few nice things to say about the young female attendants. Keeping him away from both subjects was always a good choice when I visited though, and that was where the cardoons came in handy.
Now we still have the same cardoons, the ones I planted for him 3 years ago, and although I should probably re-seed them again so that the stalks next year will be younger and tastier, I just have a hard time ripping them out. Those plants make me think of Uncle Joe and what he meant to me. He was one of the strange but wonderful bachelors in my family who never married, choosing instead to live with family, pooling their money and resources as they lived together. Each individual appeared to have their place in they system, at least from my perspective, but who really knows now.
As I move on in my own life, I have to let these things go sometimes, and I have to hold on to what I can. I just wish that I could have held on to Uncle Joe longer, or to my Uncle Charlie or Uncle Fritz. I would trade those damn cardoons for a moment with any one of my old Sicilian relations in an instant.