Living Up To My Name

The image above features a pocket garden that we have recently completed at our home.

The red flower is a "Dinner Plate Hibiscus. The other flower is a Limegreen "Mop Head" Hydrangea. As you know by now I enjoy gardening very much. Both of these plants are currently blooming in the gardens near our home. I am looking forward to a few days from now, when the "Angel Trumpets" which I rooted last fall will commence their blooming. At the current time they have very small bloom pods, which mature very fast. I have two Angel Trumpets in terra cotta pots and nine are planted in the soil. All eleven are doing very well.

Several years ago my wife finally figured out why I love to garden. As a city dweller I have reverted back to my Iowa Farm Boy Heritage. As a child, I like all other farm boys of the era, I was not only expected, but required to assist in the jobs that needed to be accomplished on a farm so that we could all survive. My Dad often told us "We consume the best and sell the rest." We were proud of what we raised, both produce and livestock.

Looking back I realize that our Parents fostered "Self Esteem" in all of us by allowing us to take pride in the task which we accomplished to help support the Farm Family.