My Gardening Journey
When did I actually start gardening I would have to say my mid twenties seeing that is when I was truly bitten by the gardening bug although I’ve gardened since I could remember; helping both sets of my grandparents as well as my aunt.
My aunt grew flowers at her home and worked at a nursery where I would visit occasionally. Her home was where I wrote my first plant book for a project in second grade where I totally plagiarized it from the encyclopedias I had to use.
My mothers parents is where I learned about vegetables and where we would pick fresh cucumbers for lunch on a hot summers day. It was also where my brothers and I would disappear into the woods or through the fields that were filled with all sorts of plants and wildlife before they were cut on our way to their neighbor Joe Hanic to shake him down for a snack. He was a kind old man who now looking back seemed to enjoy having the company. There home is also where I saw my first praying mantis well sitting on some moss at the end of the yard. Last but not least were my fathers parents especially my grandmother. She had a bunch of old roses two of which went over a trellis and being a barefoot kid meant at least one thorn in a foot; I despised roses for a long time for that reason and only started growing them a few years ago. She had quite a few plants. We would plant annuals in the spring and divide crocus, and take care of the many other plants that were there such fond memories of those days.
I toyed with gardening after my grandparents passing growing a few potted plants but not getting completely re-immersed in gardening until I was 25 and fresh off of my second deployment having moved in to my wife at the time, fathers house where I felt the land pulling me back in. It started with tackling the very invasive japanese being easy enough to cut down but was a constant battle with the knotweed coming back up. If you find yourself with japanese knotweed keep cutting it will eventually exhaust itself. After moving the stone which we are not in short supply of in New England and prepping the soil it was finely time to plant. I ended up planting out strawberries, corn, cucumbers and peppers. As much as I enjoy growing all plants looking back growing fruit and vegetables never had a pull on me quite like flowers; this was also a time when a few people mentioned how happy I looked gardening and doing hard manual labor. Not sure what it is about gardening and manual labor, but both are freeing in their own way. Delphiniums and dahlias also accompanied me in that garden, but it would be another few years until I realized their significance.
Ten years later gardening has become even more significant in my life even starting my own nursery and working to get it fully off the ground. The nursery came into fruition during my third deployment as life would have it. There in Afghanistan I worked out the details. I knew I wanted it to be a specialist nursery where the focus is on one plant and all others are secondary. Delphiniums came out on top when everything was said and done. No one I saw was specializing in them, delphiniums haven’t been patented like crazy so it made selling easier, and I just really enjoy growing them. As luck would have it delphinium specialists are very open and friendly. I emailed Graham Austin who is an idol of mine at Home Farm Plants, located in the UK he pointed me in a good direction; also emailed Blackmore Langdon also in the UK and they were just as helpful. Got my hands on elatum delphinium seed which is the beautiful english delphiniums you see pictures of and I was off.
After deployment a delphinium bed was created where I could grow and select what delphiniums I wanted to keep.(Unless its a species delphinium, a delphinium won’t come true to the parent plant from seed you have to take cuttings.) You can however get beautiful delphinium from seed.
Ever since the collection of delphiniums have grown and our garden beds around the home you should see our dahlias. I don’t think I will ever get tired of gardening or in the case of delphiniums taking cutting or of the excitement of what the delphinium will look like when grown from seed. When I stop enjoying gardening or I no longer get excited when a plant flowers it will be time to stop. Gardening has been a part of my life for a long time and don’t see gardening leaving anytime soon.
