First of all, it will come as no surprise to many, because I may have mentioned it a few (dozen) times, but my mother was a major gardener.
We’re
talking two acres of straight, weedless rows of amazing deliciousness.
From
peas to pumpkins, corn to carrots to cauliflower, they were there. And grew due
to my mother’s—and often my siblings’—extensive efforts.
You
notice how I left me out of all of that.
That’s
because most often Diane could be found under a tree at the edge of the garden.
Planting
her own stuff…
Maybe
I’d better just get to the poem:
Mary, Mary, quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row.
First
of all, who was Mary?
Queen?
Horticulturist?
Avid
gardener next door?
Whoever
she was, she was obviously a bit…cantankerous. Thus the whole ‘contrary’
moniker.
I
don’t know about you, but I’d rather be known by another characteristic.
‘Sweet’
or ‘kind’ come instantly to mind. But I’d take ‘agreeable’. Or even
non-threatening’.
But
then we’d find ourselves in difficulties with the rhyme.
All
I could come up with to rhyme with Sweet was Pete.
And though there were many words that rhymed with Kind: blind, find, re-find (snicker) but
none of them were names I was familiar with.
And
just try finding a name to pair with Agreeable. Or Non-threatening!
Yikes.
So
Mary it is.
You
know, now that I think about it, we could change Mary’s descriptors with little
problem. Dairy, fairy, hairy (shudder), nary, scary…even very.
Just
putting that out there…
So
Contrary Mary (CM for short) had a garden.
And
the writer wants to know how her garden grows.
Now,
to me, this would suggest gardening tips.
You
know, watering, ph balance, nutrition, drainage.
But
obviously this writer was interested, not in the ‘how’, but in the ‘what’.
And CM
had an answer:
Silver
bells, for one.
Now the
term ‘silver bells’ conjures up a few lovely things for me.
None
of them eat-able.
In
the real world, they are either a “broadleaf evergreen perennial or a deciduous plant”.
Both recognized for their ornamental value and unique
characteristics.
But not their eat-ability.
Ha! See? I was right! Non-eat-able.
So, obviously, CM wasn’t intent merely on esculent cultivation.
But was in search of something pretty and see-worthy.
And now on to the ‘Cockle Shells’.
???
Definitely not
plants!
These are exclusively marine bi-valves.
Found in the…marine.
Certainly not in a garden in the…non-marine.
Trim, maybe. But not plants. So probably not ‘growing’
at all.
I’m beginning to think that CM’s garden is more of a ‘stroll-around-and-see-stuff’
place than a ‘let’s-raid-the-garden-and-eat-stuff!’ place.
I mean, both have their…erm…place.
Moving on…
Lastly we have the ‘Pretty Maids’.
Again…flowers. (“Perennials known for their airy
clouds of white, pink striated flowers” to quote Gardener’s Weekly.)
Not veggies.
I’m beginning to think Mary’s garden isn’t what I imagined
at all.
Okay, yes. Walking around a garden is peaceable and
enjoyable and lots of other ‘-ables’.
But when one is hungry?
That one is heading for the picnic basket or to the food
truck parked on or near the premises.
Am I right?
So I’m thinking our Contrary Mary is needing a bit of
a re-do…
Scary
Mary, very hairy
What
does your garden grow?
There’s
peas and beans.
And other
greens,
So
come and eat them…row by row!
I
like mine better.
You've read mine.
Now go and see what my Sister Bloggers, Karen and Marcia have to say!
You'll be glad you did!