Sisters

My wonderful friend, Barbara, is a master gardener and her home and gardens show it, so beautiful that Barb and her husband have been invited to participate in a multi-municipality garden tour on June 13, 2010. On Wednesday I was at Barb’s for lunch after which, we went to her greenhouse and planted impatients, lettuce and marigold seeds. I know the seeds Barb planted will mature into beautiful plants. Although I am the daughter and granddaughter of florists, I do not have a green thumb. The front of my home has shrubs and the backyard is dedicated to my K-9 girls to romp and run in. That’s my excuse for not having plants and I’m sticking to it besides, I’m lazy. So I was surprised and honored when Barbara asked me to be a docent for the upcoming garden tour. I do know the difference between a dandelion and a rose. I know impatients, petunias, mums and pansies when I see them but one of the gardens she is planning is a Three Sisters Garden, never heard of it. Barb explained that the very wise Native American Indians would plant corn on a mound and when the corn grew about six inches high, they planted beans around the base of the corn to provide a stake for the beans to grow on. After the beans started to climb the corn, they would plant squash next to the beans and together the corn and beans provided shade necessary for the squash to grow and in return the large leaves of the squash would spread out and help shade out weeds, deter critters, and provide some protection against drying out the soil. Together the three sisters would provide a healthy diet and long-term soil fertility. How awesome is that!

I don’t have a picture of a Three Sisters Garden but without naming names – you know who you are, here are two sisters.