I no longer have a Mom—she died a year ago this month—and my kids don’t live here. It was up to my husband to get me through Mother’s Day in one piece.
We were on our way to a friend’s birthday brunch when I suggested we stop in at the 20th Anniversary Friends School Plant Sale. This colossal event takes place every Mother’s Day weekend in the State Fair Grandstand. What with the time of year, the incredible plant selection, and the amazing prices, not to mention the wonderful cause, to a northern gardener it’s better than Christmas.
Whatever you want, my husband said through clenched teeth. He is not a gardener.
Owing to my celebrity status as a garden writer, I’d been invited to come early and shop with the volunteers. The assumption was that I’d show up on opening day: Friday. When I appeared before the information booth on Sunday, which happens to be half-price day, there was some consternation. Apparently a few overeager customers had been unruly. I was given a nametag inscribed with the words “OK to shop.”
