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Last night, while at the restaurant, Abby knowing how much I love gardening, told me that just across the street was the Merrifield Garden Center and it was one of the best that she had ever visited. So today I decided to go see for myself and the moment that I set foot on the grounds, I heard the familiar clicking of a sprinkler head sending bursts of water to an entire area of evergreens and I was transported back to my uncle’s house in Begles, France because every morning and every evening that sound was part of our auditory environment; just like the morning doves. When we were little my uncle would bring my cousin, my sister and I with him when he would go make the rounds at the main nursery in Castets-en-Dorthe; the smaller nursery at the house was really for visitors and daily traffic. The big business was at Castets. We loved to roam around the property playing hide and seek, we spent quite a few hours getting lost amongst the hedges and the rose bushes. The nursery is still in business; my cousin has expanded both operations and he is doing very well.
Merrield Garden Center gave me much needed plant love if that makes any sense. As I was strolling down each aisle gazing at the plants, I was taking mental notes and also thinking, I have this, I have that, that one has gone crazy, maybe I need another one of those. I also liked how they had their plants laid out; those in full sun and the great variety of plants in full and partial shade. I got a few ideas from their selection. The only thing that I have to keep in mind is that down here; the danger of frost is much less than up where we are and our frost is quite unforgiving so I would have to be very mindful of which plants I pick to put in my shaded areas.
Even just slowly walking around inhaling the various smells of evergreen, ivy, and pine just freshly watered, made me smile. For a few moments I forgot that there was a major road just behind me and that I was surrounded by concrete and tar. The wonderful scents of Foxglove, roses, dianthus, and asters plus a myriad of others wasn’t overwhelming in the slightest, perhaps it was due to the breeze mixed in with the spray of the sprinklers, but it definitely made me think of a scent that should be bottled.
I am itching to get back to my plot of a garden. Something to look forward to, hooray!
laurieanichols 