and for the first 10 years of my life I lived in sub-tropical regions of the world; Taiwan, Thailand, Saipan and Miami Florida. When I was ten we moved to the Washington DC area where I experienced living in a Temperate climate for the first time, ie four distinct seasons winter, spring, summer fall.
We moved there in the summer and that Fall my Mom took me to the local nursery where we bought flowering bulbs. My Mom assured me that these bulbs; Daffodil, Tulips, Hyacinth and Crocus would come up in the spring and bloom. I was amazed that these ugly brown papery things would make this miraculous transformation when we planted in the ground! On another visit to a nursery, I noticed the blue pansies, I couldn’t stop admiring them. The salesman at the nursery noticed my interest and gifted me with my very own blue pansy. I often think about this man and his act of kindness, little did he know that a horticulturist was born that day!
If you are reading this you probably love gardening. My hope is that the next generation will come to enjoy gardening and all things nature.