Author: Laura Lee Rose

Got Magic? When I was a very little girl I thought my grandparents were magic.  They were gardeners.  Every Saturday, it seemed to me, they worked in the yard.  They grew some of the shrubs that lined the long driveway to their house. Camellia japonica, C. sasanqua, holly, boxwood, and several varieties of azaleas were planted down the drive and around the house.  Two acres of sandy earth had tall pine trees which gave shade, pine needles, and helped acidify the soil to the liking of those acid-loving plants.  My grandfather never bought mulch.  What I clearly remember is the miniature forest of rooted cuttings in sand boxes with window sashes over them.