• In the Garden

Friday, August 22, 2008

A Cinderella Story

posted by Terry OShaughnessy at 0h03

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Pumpkin patch on the move (Photo by Terry O'Shaughnessy)

It’s a bit of a Cinderella story. When I went out to the yard yesterday morning, a bright orange flower and a long, four foot vine had, it seemed, suddenly grown overnight. Though it didn’t change to a golden coach at midnight (and there was no glass slipper lying around in the grass), the luck of it is, I suddenly have a pumpkin patch in my backyard that I never planted.

Last fall after Halloween, I took my pumpkin to the corner of my yard where I just dump things. Old plants, tired earth, cuttings, and clippings all find their way there. It’s a sort of a badly tended compost heap, and hides nicely behind a swinging fence, so I’ve been using it for anything and everything. This summer, though, there are some very interesting developments. Two separate delicate rosebushes are emerging, a cascade of pale pink gypsophyllia, and now three thick, muscular vines with those big yellowish orange flowers like parchment that mean a collection of pumpkins is on the way. And all thanks to that other gardener that apparently toils in my yard—my old Halloween pumpkin.  

I’m thrilled with my pumpkin patch because I've never managed to grow a pumpkin before in my life. I planted a few seeds once or twice, but nothing ever happened, so my healthy-looking patch that looks as though it will have a high yield by October is my new favourite thing. After all, a garden that plants itself is the ultimate, isn’t it?  

I hope the pumpkins don’t change into a glamorous golden coach overnight, though, and force me to dress up and go to any ball. Call me an evil step-sister type, but I want each one of those pumpkins to become scary Jack-O-Lanterns for Halloween instead.