PERFECT POSIES

Many years ago, I had a maiden aunt named Florence Foreman. Aunt Florence lived in a small, quaint house behind the dunes of the Point Abino Peninsula, along the north shore of Lake Erie in Ontario.

She was a dainty little lady who was spotlessly dressed and smelled of scented sachets. During the summers, she worked as a cleaning lady for a wealthy American family at their compound of large houses along the lake. To make extra money, she would rent her house to vacationers. When she wasn’t working, she’d spend the days at her sister’s house nearby, and her nights in a tiny cabin perched at the back of her property. In winter, she stayed with another sister in the town of Ridgeway, several miles away.

Aunt Florence had few visitors, but she did have her thin-cushioned rocker and her beloved romance novels. She also had a secret, wildly romantic and adventurous youth to remember, one that would have satisfied any Harlequin novel fan.

Aunt Florence did have one enduring passion. On an oval table in her living room lived several amazing African violets. In the centre of each plant was a perfect “bouquet” of flowers. Each clump of flowers was a special colour. Some had whitetrimmed, wavy petals. Around the bouquet was a circlet of dark leaves, all the same size and symmetry.

Never were houseplants better cared for. They were moved twice a day to keep them in indirect light, just beyond the edge of any sunlight that might harm the leaves. They were watered at a specific time, being very sure that no water touched a leaf.

As to the perfection of the bouquet in the centre, it is a simple, old-fashioned technique. Aunt Florence showed me how to pinch out each tiny leaf from the centre of the plant as it appears. The flower buds will then rise up in the middle and open together into a stunning bouquet. The violets bloom for a long time. They seem eager to replace the bouquet soon after it is finished, as blooming occurs many times each year. Marianne Van Osch, Forest Grove, B.C.