Every Friday since January, me and my mum go for lunch. It’s usually just to Hitchin, for a coffee and a small something. But it’s nice to get out the house, a change of scenery and to relax by the river.
Afterwards, we usually end up in a garden centre. My mum loves plants and is a keen gardener, always has been. We have a medium sized garden with a few trees on the edge and a small pond in one corner by the old apple tree. Recently she’s been after some more colourful plants and flowers and shrubs to go around the pond, to make her smile on bad days. So she has been collecting them from the garden centres and a market stall in Hitchin she always goes to.
Before all this, I didn’t know much about plants. I knew what I liked, the bright cheery daffodils and crocuses that always emerge around my birthday and make me smile. But I didn’t know much else.
My mum brought me into this new world, and I’m glad she did. I have found an oasis of colour, brightening up my life and bringing joy to my soul. I have discovered new wonders, plants that I didn’t know existed but now are my favourites, like the vivid dahlias that erupt with colour; bright, bold, beautiful. Or the vibrant delphiniums, long blue petals stretching to the stars. Or the iridescent tulips, chalices of splendour that shimmer in a rainbow of colour; yellow, orange, pink, purple, red, white petals that shine like jewels. Or the smiling osteospermum that look like daisies, white and purple, like the ones that used to grow near the school playing field. Or the sweet hyacinths with their wonderful fragrance that simmers on the air.
I am discovering a thousand lost treasures, and there are always more.
Today, I discovered the geranium, a plant I had heard of but not known what it looked like. My mum said it was just an ordinary plant, a perrenial, growing everywhere. But to me, it seemed extraordinary. I gazed in wonder marvelling at it. It fascinated me, how something so small could be so beautiful, with its little flowers of red and orange gleaming like fire opals.
As usual, we head to the till, clutching dahlias my mum selected, a few alpines, and one small cucumber plant. I’m not confident enough to buy my own just yet. But I like learning about all these plants. I can see why she loves gardening, when there are so many beuaitufl flowers available. Even the shrubs seem pretty. I like the ones I’m calling raspberry ripples, as they look like raspberry ripple ice creams, little delicate petals of dark pink and white amongst the leaves. Later, my mum says they were saxifragus, another name that sounds like it should be a warrior from a fantasy novel. Another wonder explored, more beauty unveiled.
I love our plant filled Fridays. I don’t want them to end. I know they will, if I eventually get a job somewhere. But I think perhaps they will become plant filled Saturdays instead. For i have enjoyed my new adventure into plants, and want it to continue for a long time yet.
