When I was little, my next door neighbor had the coolest flower in her backyard. I absolutely loved it. It was called a Columbine. The flowers are so beautiful and dainty. I imagined that they were fairy homes. We didn't have a Columbine in our yard, but I would go over to her yard and visit her Columbines and make up stories about the fairies that lived in them. I would tell my parents all the time that I wanted my own Columbine.
The summer of 1985, I went to a week-long camp at Miami University. I missed my mom and dad so much. When they picked me up, they told me that they had a special surprise for me when we got home. I couldn't wait to get home to see what it was. When we pulled in the driveway, my dad said the surprise was in the yard. I went into the backyard and found that they had bought me a Columbine and planted it in the yard just for me. It was yellow and so beautiful! I loved it.
Over the years at home, we added a few more Columbine to our collection in Toledo. But, when we moved to Plymouth, there were no Columbine in our yard. I was sad because the Columbine was such a reminder to me of the love my parents had for me. For several years, our yard went Columbine-less because I couldn't find one at the regular greenhouses. Finally, I went to Mrs. Gray's Greenhouse to see if she had one. Mrs. Gray has all kinds of interesting and unusual plants. (Someday I'll have to post about the string of pearl plant.) Luckily, Mrs. Gray had one Columbine plant. I took it home and planted it and it lived for several seasons until someone thought it was a weed and pulled it this year.
I wish I had a whole Columbine garden just bursting with Columbine.
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