Garden Scrapbook

I love my garden.

 It is a source of calm, exercise, food, cut flowers and memories.  Many of the plants have been gifts.  They are from birthdays, Mothers Day, anniversaries, even a tree given to commemorate the adoption of our son.  I have planted flowers that are the favorites of the women in my family.  Pansies for my paternal grandmother, yellow roses for my mother-in-law, Iris for my maternal grandmother and lilly-of -the-valley for my mother.  The daisies commemorate the ones I carried on my wedding day.

Sometimes it is the smell of the plants that trigger memories.  One of my strongest triggers for memories of Vietnam was the smell of fresh herbs that would enfold you as you walked past the street-side restaurants.  A single whiff of fresh cilantro . . . and I am so there!  This year there have been a lot of cilantro “volunteers”, new plants that grow from the seeds of last years plants without any help from the gardener.  I was surprised to find thai basil this year in one of the big hardware store garden centers.  These two combined with mint make my favorite garnishes for Pho.  If that doesn’t take me back to Vietnam the memory is lost never to return!  

What is Pho?  Well, that is a post of it’s own, and not for me to tackle.  There are entire blogs dedicated to Pho.  Go do a search, I’m sure you will find more than you have time to read for a month.

If you would like to grow herbs of Vietnam, check out this site. It lists their various names and typical uses. I live in the North East and find that most are easy to grow despite the vast differences in climates. Care must be taken when you grow mint. The good news is that it is perennial and will not need to be planted each year. The bad news is that it is very invasive and will cover your entire yard within a few seasons if not contained. Mine is currently escaping the containment I have provided and has invaded the neighboring chives. (But to be fair, the chives have also volunteered their way into the mint!)