Grand Garden Junk Junkie

 

"Lily"

I may have already mentioned that I am a garden junk junkie. I have all sorts of wonderful things tucked into my flower beds: bird houses, found objects, interesting pieces of driftwood, and chunks of marble, fantastic “flowers” -- constructed of China plates and bowls and vases. One of my favorite pieces of “junk” is a scrap metal dinosaur—or maybe it’s a dragon, I can’t really tell---that my oldest son welded together when he was nine years old and went on a “take your son to work day” with dad. The dragon-saurus is wonderful and deserves a name, but somehow has never acquired one. Nevertheless, it faithfully stands guard in my garden, once upon a time I used it to give maundering elk the evil eye.

Shark!!

There are all manner of steppingstones that my kids have made over the years. My favorites are the ones they made in Mr. Westerberg’s 3-4 grade class that include the handprint of the “artist” pressed into the back. It’s hard to believe my towering six-foot sons ever had hands that small, but I have the proof, imprinted in cement.

My gardens also seem to be a repository for forgotten toys. Every so often, when transplanting a seedling, I’ll unearth a long-lost Hot Wheel car or a Match Box bulldozer that was abandoned when the Worst Mother in the World made the construction crew come in and take a bath. And then there are the plastic animal figurines that wander around the edges of my garden. My grandkids enjoy wandering around the garden, helping me water and discover treasures their fathers and uncles have left behind and adding their own bits and pieces to my collection of precious “junk.”

Look what we found, Nana Sugar!

My newest edition, from Mexico