I originally wrote this post on September 3, 2022 on my old blog as I was collecting marigold seeds which triggered my memory back then and as always about how my grandmother collected marigold seeds in a little matchbox. She had small plants at were about 6 inches tall and wide. i bet you that if she saw the monster marigolds that I am growing this year she would be so proud, or maybe she is just showing off from above and ensures that I have the most amazing marigolds in town – Regardless of whether it was oma or the seeds, I get compliments on them all the time!

Growing up, my oma always grew the neatest flowers in her little garden,.. marigolds were one of them. I always thought marigolds stunk just like geraniums, though grandma grew both and her garden always looked awesome. Opa had made a rainbarrel in the corner of the shed, and she used her little watering can to fill up at the barrel to water her plants. She had a wall where she grew a very successful grapevine, and on the other side she had a shrub called hamamelis which she adored, along with planters. She had flagstone pavers in her garden to reach different areas in her garden, and she always had something interesting in her garden.

One thing i distinctively remember about oma is that she always saved seeds and bulbs. She would dig up bulbs in the spring after they were down flowering and then she would replant them in the fall. Marigolds were deadheaded and the seeds were saved in a little match box and resown in spring.

Oma, I have a little something to share with you! I picked up your habit with these marigolds, and I am scattering seeds across my garden! You would have loved my garden, and at times when I am working in my garden, I think of you and opa, and I think of how you would have enjoyed gardening here!