Do you remember when you first realized you were a plant lover? Do you remember when you first became a ‘gardener?’ If you are reading this, chances are you became a lover of plants at some fairly definable point: an interaction, a moment, a relationship, a summer, a winter – whether as a child or as an adult.
I remember this about learning to love plants – learning that I WAS a gardener: the sticky residue on my finger tips after dead-heading petunias; the peaceful, hushed fragrance and warmth beneath an old ponderosa pine; my mother paying me and my sisters pennies to weed the vegetable garden; my mother sending me at age 7 to the garden to pick spinach for dinner and my returning with a basket of swiss chard – “Do you not know what spinach looks like?” she asked incredulously; turning fuchsia blossoms upside down so that they became fairy dresses; hungrily sucking the sweet nectar from a honeysuckle blossom as we walked to the beach; my bed-ridden grandfather asking me to take his polaroid camera out to the garden to photograph the cherry tree in bloom – just as he had photographed it every year since he had planted it twenty years earlier. Those are some of the imagistic — formative — memories that accumulated into my — from childhood to adulthood — becoming a plant lover, a gardener. What do you remember?
This week In a North State Garden features: A Moment of Generosity – Passing the Love of Plants and Gardening onto the Next Generation, during Northstate Public Radio’s Spring Membership Drive. .
While there is no regular In a North State Garden radio program the weekends of March 20th & 21st or March 27th & 28th, a special one-hour call-in edition of In a North State Garden will air on Thursday March 25th from 10 – 11 am PST, and will feature special guests Lisa Endicott of McConnell Arboretum and Gardens at Turtle Bay in Redding; Adrienne Edwards, PhD Botanist, Ecologist, Arborist, Mother and energy behind a native-plant pollinator and habitat garden at her children’s elementary school; Quinn Mendez, head of the Agriculture Department at Chico High School and one of her horticulture students, all talking with us about the Moment of Generosity inherent in teaching the next generation a love of plants and gardening.
To listen, tune in to KCHO 91.7 Fm Chico or KFPR 88.9 FM Redding or listen live online at time of program. For additional FM translators: www.kcho.org/_main/translators.asp.
Do you have a story to tell about teaching your children or grandchildren the love of plants or gardening? Do you have stories about being taught this love yourself?
If you have stories, comments, information about plant-related educational programs aimed at children coming up in our region to share, or a question to ask about Teaching the Next Generation the Love of Plants – share it here, or send me an email: Jennifer@jewellgarden.com and I will share it during the program on Thursday March 25th. If you’d like to call-in during the program, the number to call will be: 530-898-6755.
Hope you can join us – if you’re like most plant lovers and gardeners I know, you have stories that range from funny to horrifying to profoundly touching about learning or teaching your love of plants or gardens.
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To submit plant/gardening related events/classes to the Jewellgarden.com on-line Calendar of Regional Gardening Events, send the pertinent information to me at: Jennifer@jewellgarden.com
Did you know I send out a weekly email with information about upcoming topics and gardening related events? If you would like to be added to the mailing list, send an email to Jennifer@jewellgarden.com.
In a North State Gardenis a weekly Northstate Public Radio and web-based program celebrating the art, craft and science of home gardening in Northern California and made possible in part by the Gateway Science Museum – Exploring the Natural History of the North State and on the campus of CSU, Chico. In a North State Garden is conceived, written, photographed and hosted by Jennifer Jewell – all rights reserved jewellgarden.com. In A North State Garden airs on Northstate Public RadioSaturday mornings at 7:34 AM Pacific time and Sunday morning at 8:34 AM Pacific time. Podcasts of past shows are available here.
