gard9901

January 1999 : This month flower -Coralberry

Mieko Nagano: Oita City, Japan

I would say my garden is of Western style. I plant many favorite trees and flowers of Western and Oriental species, however. It may not be a gardener-friendly garden, but I still love it very much. Beside the red brick made flowerbed, I find a stalk of Coralberry holding many crimson berries.

I brought it three years ago from my grandmother's garden. It was a tall and skinny root. Since my grandmother's old house was to be demolished and the land was to be passed into someone else's possession, I asked my mother to divide the root as a memory of my grandmother's house I had resorted in my childhood.

At first, I was worrying about if it could take root in my garden. What is delightful to me, it is now growing very healthy. Its crimson berries form a striking contrast against the winter-colored garden in which only a few flowers are in bloom. Whenever I go out and return home, I pass by the flower without fail. Every time I look at the flower, I bid the late grandmother the time of day in my mind.

Since the name of the flower "Manryou", or literally "Ten thousand dollars" has a happy meaning -it brings you happiness-, it is widely welcomed in the first month of a year, in particular. The stalk seems to me that my grandmother is watching me warmly in heaven. I love the garden tree.

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mieko@fat.coara.or.jp

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