Something Good for the World

"The man who has planted a garden feels that he has done something good for the world." - Charles Dudley Warner.

That was true of my husband.  He loved to plant things.  He loved to grow things.  He was a natural nurturer.  Chris planted veggies, roses, begonias and little annuals.  He used to get excited when his begonias started to poke their little green heads through the potting mix that was his own secret recipe.  I still could not tell you what was in it.

Not a begonia but a hippeastrum

Chris particularly loved to potter about the garden and then come in and tell me all about what he had done or what he planned to do.  He loved a second opinion :)
Dad and Chris would talk for hours about the joys and challenges of gardening.

Dad has been gardening for about 85 years and every year that I have been around, Dad has had a veggie patch.
When he was 90 he won Community Gardener of the year!! Not bad eh?

 Chris would often surprise me with a vase of his beautiful roses on the dining table when I got home from work. "Smell that red one. It's just beautiful."  And it was.  Even our neighbour delighted in the his beautiful blooms towering over the fence.

These were lilium bulbs that Dad gave Chris.  I sent Chris this photo when he was in Karratha so that he could see how his garden was growing in his absence.  He had lovely white and yellow varieties as well.  He wasn't against any flower and loved them all, though of course begonias and roses were his favourites.

One of my lovely memories of Chris and the kids digging carrots up in the veggie patch. The kids were covered in dirt but they loved it.

and of course there was always a little helper in the garden 

A beautiful rose from a beautiful man - a beautiful life of memories that as time goes by I hold dearer and dearer.  Thank you my darling, you certainly left a lot of good in this world.