I’ll always remember my green-fingered aunt Rhona
MY LATE aunt Rhona was a keen gardener and was seldom seen in her garden without a pair a secateurs in her hand, clipping a stray twig here and flipping off a dead flower head there.
When she and her husband moved to a retirement village she created a wonderful tropical garden in the glassed-in porch of her cottage.
For one birthday she presented me with a spectacular amaryllis in a pot and, much to my surprise, it flourished on my wind-swept patio.
That was more than 10 years ago and the amaryllis has divided into four healthy plants filling two pots. I do very little to them apart from beating off marauding snails from time to time. Unlike her, I am a mediocre-to-poor gardener. Every autumn I am rewarded with a spectacular display of enormous blooms, each about the size of a soupplate, in brilliant pink and cream. And of course every autumn those blooms remind me of my late aunt Rhona.
There are many ways in which we can keep the memory of our loved ones alive.
Some families erect expensive granite tombstones, others donate park benches in their memory. Those who have made a big contribution to the city or suburb may have streets or parks named after them.
(There’s the risk here that future generations may discredit the political party of the dear departed and change the name to that of a currently more acceptable politician).
Every year I look at those incredible blooms and think to myself there could hardly be a more appropriate way of remembering a remarkable lady.
Of course there’s the added benefit that all the people who visit my home get pleasure from those amaryllis flowers as well. Graveyards are all very well, but they take up a great deal of valuable space that could be used for other purposes and they require a lot of upkeep. After a while nobody remembers the people buried there and it all deteriorates into an area of cracked concrete and creeping weeds that gives nobody much pleasure.
I think it’s far better to plant a tree – or even grow an amaryllis – in memory of a departed friend. Long after the person has been forgotten, the tree will still be providing pleasure to future generations and the amaryllis may even develop into a whole garden of blooms as the years pass.
And if, in the passage of time, nobody remembers the person any more, and the booms fade and die, at least they will not take up space that could be used for other things – like housing the homeless or growing food for the hungry.
Last Laugh
A man read an intriguing advertisement offering a 2017 model Porsche for only R2 000.
He called the number and was answered by a woman’s voice.
“Is it true that you’re selling a new Porsche for just R2 000?” he asked. “Yes, it is.” “What’s wrong with it?” “Nothing at all.” “So why the low price?” “My husband recently ran off with his secretary, and last week he sent me an e-mail saying: ‘You can keep the house, but sell the Porsche and send the money to me.’”