Making Friends In The Garden

Gaura 'Siskiyou Pink' from David of Tropical Texana

One of the best things about gardening on my corner of Katy is the opportunities it gives me to meet other gardeners and garden enthusiasts.  That's partly how I became acquainted with David of Tropical Texana, now counted as a dear friend. We exchange plants and stories of our successes and failures: I am happy to report that after numerous failed attempts to grow Gaura 'Siskiyou Pink', the plant David gave me is thriving!  When David first started blogging and I became one of his readers, I had no idea that he was the same Mr P who taught at the elementary school my children had attended.  I knew that Mr P was a gardener because we'd met and talked at a daylily sale once years ago.  It was something of a "well, duh" moment when I finally put it all together.  It also turns out he was a regular drive-by visitor to my corner.

Green Anole on the Gaura

Last Saturday, as I was working out front, I met another drive-by regular, who brought her mom by to see the gardens.  She asked if I had time to give them a little tour and of course I said yes. There's nothing I enjoy more than sharing my gardens with appreciative visitors, unless it's sharing it with fellow gardeners!  Maria and her mother Maria were both and I so enjoyed strolling around the gardens, sharing plants and seeds with them and hearing about their gardens. Maria Senior had a beautiful accent: when I asked where she was from, her daughter Maria told me they were Portuguese and had emigrated here from the Azore Islands in 1967-68.  That's one of many places I'll probably never see but now I have a connection to it through them.  And so my world expands ...

Speaking of expansion, here's another friend in my garden: a green anole lizard, inflating his dewlap in his search for female companionship.  I knew what that pouch was called thanks to David, who shared info about the Green Anole in his most recent post.  It makes me happy to think about how much larger my world has become since I became a gardener.  Then I think about how much larger it WILL be because of gardening and it boggles my mind!