Results: A Child's Garden

Mom called it a dwarf rose; Dad called it a nuisance. Though it wasn't ours, it had twined itself through and around our back fence. As if it were as attracted to the sight of small girls playing as we were to the scent of its flowers. Once, tempted by the palest of pink blossoms, we tried to peel a bud to help the rose bloom. (FYI: it can't be done.) This became a family version of "you can't put the toothpaste back in the tube." Which we also tried to do as kids. Did you ever try to put the toothpaste back in the tube?

The flowers in my grandmother's gardens, however tempting, were off limits. But we were free to pick the opportunistic snapdragons that grew in the cracks between the foundation and driveway of her little house. We'd gently pinch the back of the flower to see the dragon's jaw open and close. Of course, this meant that we had to roar like a dragon as we did so. Have you ever made a snapdragon snap and "roar?"

Lily of the Valley actually did "deck my garden walk" when I was a little girl. If I never heard them ring, the scent was almost enough to make up for that. And yes, Muguet des Bois by Coty was my first perfume when I was old enough. Do you like the scent of Lily of the Valley?

Outside my mother's kitchen window was a forsythia bush. The surest sign that Spring was really coming was when the "For Cynthia" bush would burst unexpectedly into bloom. Sometimes with patches of snow still on the ground. Unruly and irredeemably cheerful, that bush made washing the supper dishes less a chore. The world would be a better place if every kitchen sink had a window with a forsythia to brighten the view. Don't you agree?

Shy or not, wild violets have a mind of their own; they grow where they want to grow. They're stubborn- reappearing in the same spot year after year. And they'll spread to the point some gardeners who are not me consider them invasive- despite their being edible. And though my one attempt at making crystalized violets ended disappointingly, the discovery of a patch of violets has been a highlight of every year since my earliest childhood. Have you ever eaten something that had violets on the ingredients list?