I’m taking up Gayla Trail‘s challenge to be part of the Grow Write Guild, a collection of writers or gardeners of one stripe or another who wish to practice telling their garden stories. Gayla’s first prompt, posted today, is to write about my first plant.
I know that when I was in kindergarten, I walked with my classmates on a field trip to a local garden center, where we each picked out an annual to plant in a small bed in front of the school. I picked out a marigold because I liked its spicy smell, and probably because it was the first thing I came to. At age 5, I hadn’t cultivated the skill of browsing. I became depressed when I returned to school and saw that another of my friends had found a cockscomb (Celosia cristata). My marigold didn’t seem so enticing anymore, not when compared with those velvety pink folds. They were so soft to touch! I remember not having much interest in or attachment to the little garden bed after that.
But the first plant I really grew, I think, must be a Rieger begonia that I bought at a farmer’s market up the road from my apartment in Arlington, Virginia, when I was about 23. I had spent the previous year in London and it was there that the seeds of this gardening obsession were sown. I began collecting gardening books and forming ideas in my mind for gardens I would one day plant, but the 800 square foot apartment I called home didn’t even have proper windowsills, let alone a balcony, on which to grow anything.
I did have a south facing window that looked out onto an expanse of grass and the north-facing windows of apartments across the way, and I had an end table. That, and my potted Rieger begonia, constituted my first garden.
The man who sold me the plant said it was an easy-to-care-for houseplant, and at the time he proved to be right (I have killed several since then from neglect, but I remain drawn to it.). The smooth, deep green leaves and cheerful yellow petals formed into snug roses enchanted me, but for some reason I was also taken with the begonia’s succulent stems. They felt crisp, like fresh celery. I took it home, put it on the end table where it got reflected light off the standard-issue-apartment-paint walls, and fed it used tea leaves. Even then, I was determined to compost. That is another story.
While I had no attachment to the plant before I bought it–in fact, I had never seen nor heard of it–I formed a very deep attachment to it over the course of the year. When in the fall I moved to Chicago, I put the plant in a box in the car with me and took it along. I grew it faithfully for six more years, until, with husband and infant son now in the mix, I moved to North Carolina. We had accumulated stuff over those six years, as one does, and now faced a more challenging move. It was the baby or the plants (I had no idea babies required so much equipment!), so I gave the plants away to a gardening friend from work. By then, the Rieger had a great deal of company; I grew plants on a jerry-built light stand in my apartment closet. It was a really big closet.
MissingHenryMitchell 
This is great – I can totally picture that begonia. I am finally having luck with houseplants after killing all of mine over the years. I’m also planning my first garden, and wrote about my plans in response to Gayla’s first prompt, here: http://whenitsathome.wordpress.com/2013/03/19/choose-your-own-adventure/ This is such a fun writing project.
Thanks! I will look forward to seeing how your garden progresses as you make discoveries this spring.
Great story! I’m really enjoying reading everyone’s posts about their first plants!
Mary
http://marysgardengrows.com
Thanks! I enjoyed yours too.
Did you ever eat your begonia flowers? I have hear they taste like lemons, but I have never grown a begonia, so I have never tried it.
I have never been land-poor, but if I was I could imagine myself filling a closet with plants. 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
I have never eaten begonia flowers; I didn’t know they were edible. I’m not sure I could bear to eat them, because they’re so dear to look at. Given the choice of having them or eating them, I’ll have them. 🙂
This is a great post about working with what you’ve got. In this case the south facing window and an end table. My favorite line is, “it was the baby or the plants…”
Thank you! While I’m definitely happier having a bit of real ground to scratch in, I do think it’s fun to get creative within severe boundaries.
Turning a closet into a grow room may be the most clever way to deal with a lack of garden space I’ve ever seen. *applauds*
Thank you! It was quite the setup, I assure you: I was leading a life of quiet gardening desperation. My husband used to speculate what the apartment’s maintenance man thought I was growing whenever he came to fix the shower…
I love begonias! Great story!
You reminded me that my mother used to cultivate lots of clippings of Angel Wing Begonias – she has a real knack for those. I should see if she still has one, and if I can get clippings of it. They don’t like direct sunlight, so it would be perfect for my place, which is a bit shady. She’s given them to me before, and sometimes they’ve thrived, but I’ve usually managed to kill them at some point…
As for eating begonia flowers – wow, I’d never have tried that. My mom always told me our angel-wing begonias are poisonous. Was I missing out?
I posted my own first plant story here: http://wanderingtoronto.com/?p=458
Fab I remember having a houseplant on my office desk at my first job, I think I still have now or one similar but no idea what it is called.
I’m really enjoying reading everyone’s Grow Write Guild posts. I love that you built a growth chamber in a closet. It’s a great solution!
I enjoyed your story. Houseplants in my 20s was also a gateway gardening experience for me. Just posted a link to my first Grow Write attempt on Gayla’s site.
Great story! I had to give away all my plants once when I moved across country too. It’s hard, but then you can collect more new ones! Here’s my post from the Grow Write Guild exercise… My First Plant
Amy
I love begonias! I had more success with houseplants when I lived in AZ as WA is much darker and none of our windows have light plus it gets so cold inside. Looks like you had a good start with gardening.
I love that your teacher took you on a field trip to a garden center! The garden in a closet is pretty great, too.
Pingback: Missing Geoff Hamilton | MissingHenryMitchell