Lessons to learn from the garden

• Date: 07 January 2021
• Published date: 07 January 2021
• Author: DVORA WAYSMAN
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

However, gardens have held a life-long fascination for me. One of my happiest memories is of spending a day with my sister at Monet's magnificent home at Giverny near Paris, seeing his famous water lily ponds and meandering through paths of breathtakingly beautiful gardens.

People who love gardens are usually very special. All the gardeners I have known are gentle people, maybe because a garden teaches patience and careful watchfulness. You need to be industrious and trusting that the work of your hands will eventually bear fruit.

Over the years I've heard some wonderful tales about gardens and plants that I'd like to share, beginning with the quotation, "The fragrance always remains in the hand that gives the rose."

I once knew a lady who grew roses from cuttings in an unusual way. Whenever she received a gift of a bunch of cut roses in winter, she would choose the most perfect one, cut the stem at an angle, wrap the bottom in a wet paper towel and place the rose in a plastic bag to keep it moist. Then she would plant it in damp, warm earth, packing the dirt firmly around the rose. Finally, she would place a glass jar over it, twisting the jar into the ground. With a final drink of water from a watering can, she would bid the plant goodbye until the spring. After the fear of frost had gone, she would uncover the rose cuttings that had been protected in their miniature greenhouses.

In this way, she would have a living souvenir of all the roses friends had given her, and in time be able to return the favor, for the best things to come out of a garden are gifts for other people.

When you tend your plants, you learn to become a caring person. They are like your babies. For them to survive, you must nourish them with water and compost, and you must be their protector from weeds and insects.

I HAVE ALWAYS loved the story of a special rose with a special name. A French rose breeder named Monsieur Francis Meilland wanted to create a truly unique bloom. The year was 1939 and war was hovering over Western Europe. By June of the following year, Nazi hordes swept...