There was a time back in the seventies, my sister and I cooped up in the back of a VeeDub, the smoke from Mum’s Winnie Red billowing in the interior of the car, that our lives were endangered by more than passive smoking.
Mum couldn’t drive past a nursery without stopping to buy something – she’d spot a nursery and swing the car into the parking lot without slowing down or indicating, Jane and I sliding over the back seat, piling on top of one another all skinny arms and legs.
Then there were the sudden sharp intakes of breath as we drove along, the kind that make you duck and cover your head in preparation for meteor strike or oncoming truck - in reality, Mum had just seen a Melaleuca armillaris on the side of the road. “Ooooh!” she’d gasp as we assumed a crouch, “A Mellaleuca armillaris!!!!!”. So it is to be raised by a gardener.
Gardening Australia’s Sophie Thompson grew up around her family’s plant nursery in the Adelaide Hills. I’m so excited to meet her on Saturday Breakfast this weekend. I’m looking forward to having her as my sidekick for Roots and Shoots this weekend, and tapping in to her considerable wisdom. I'll also be joined by Horticulturalist Mark Tucek.
Saturday Breakfast will be at the Guildford Open Gardens Festival at Stirling Square in Guildford from 6am to 10am next Saturday 1 November. A lovely way to spend a Saturday morning, I hope you can join me.
Amber
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