A JOURNEY

 As a parent, haven't we all wondered, "What life journey will my child take?"  Will the child be a doctor, a lawyer, maybe a horticulturist?

Probably not, but the clues may have been there over the years.  The child loved to play in the dirt, child interested in and not afraid of bugs, child asks lots of questions about trees and nature.

Every Christmas I think of the year my Seattle family came for the holidays.  I watched my 5 year old granddaughter in her P.J.'s trying to open the door to go outside.  When asked where she was going, the answer was to the garden to pick strawberries.  I told her Merry Sunshine was sleeping and there weren't any berries.  Her comment was, "When will she wake up?" 

When do we "wake up" to the interests that may be developing naturally in our children?  (The granddaughter's only interest was in eating strawberries.)  In the case of a potential horticulturist do we chide the child for getting too dirty or shudder when shown a prized catch of an insect?

Horticulture sounds so blissful and lucrative.  Maybe if you are the head gardener at a large estate that has an unlimited landscaping budget.  In reality, it is a world of insect-bites, near heatstroke temperatures or cold biting winds, definitely sore knees, plus the slow degeneration of the spinal column.

Over the years of exposure to glossy garden publications I have learned there is a definite difference between a garden designer and a horticulturist.  A garden designer develops plantings with structured shapes and well-laid plans for coordinating flower colors.  A horticulturist plans for the interaction of insects, plantings to attract pollinators and the development of rich soil to repair the damaged earth.  Plant choices are also considered for structural interest of seedheads, stems and flowerheads of grasses.  The end result is a meadow like effect rather than laid out garden segments.    

This can be an incredible time to get into horticulture for a number of reasons. Namely the changes we are noticing due to climate change.  Listening to the reports of the Climate Change Conference currently being held, is an eye opener to what we should be thinking about for our own backyard. How do we provide more food for our family?   How do we move away from our reliance on chemical fertilizers?

Many questions still to be answered.

Who knows, you may be sitting across the dinner table from a potential horticulturist who will rise tothe current challenges.  Maybe the child whose room was always a mess with clothes strewn on the floor, won't, as an adult. grab a high  powdered leaf blower attacking  the first fallen leaf.  Maybe as a horticulturist, he or she, will be part of the generation that leads us back to amore gentle, welcoming landscape..  The natural growth of shrubs, and  trees, not clipped into specific shapes,  fewer golf course perfect lawns, and the total acceptance of a few weeds. 

Currently reading 'Nature's Best Hope' by Douglas W. Tallamy--an excellent read.