Although my son lives more than 1,000 miles away with his wife, I have everyday Mother’s Day reminders of him in my garden and in my life.
Probably my favorite for outdoors is a cast iron frog 8 inches long and 7 inches wide. At about 3 pounds, it’s heavy enough to anchor a large, plastic saucer birdbath that sits on a stump, but occasionally gets toppled by squirrels or some other critter.
The cast iron frog, a Mother’s Day gift from years ago, serves as a landing pad in a birdbath for birds, butterflies and bees, and as a reminder of a son’s love.
The frog is large enough that part of it is above the water level, providing its back as a landing pad for birds, bees and butterflies. My sweet boy even gave me a pair of kneepads, he said because he thinks of me in the garden on my knees.
Also for the garden, he gave me a what’s now, well-worn set of metal hand tools for gardening. On another Mother’s Day, he gave me a cobalt blue, glass bud vase that I love to use. He’s also given me a poem, and a tracing of his hand in first-grade.
And, I’ve been the human mom for six dogs and one cat. Pets are kind of like kids, except even though the dogs and cats “grow up,” we are always responsible for them.
Then there are the plants in our landscapes and gardens that we lovingly tend. We water them, trim them, protect them, pick their flowers and fruits, enjoy their beauty, and get worried and sad if the plants become sick, old or die.
That caring concern extends to our neighborhoods, our community, city and state. We seem to notice when trees, shrubs and other plants decline. We notice if there are fewer birds, bees, butterflies, birds, wasps and other beneficial creatures in our gardens and elsewhere.
I always remember visiting a beautiful, pristine meadow planting in another state. This gardener used insecticides to protect the plants and there was nary a buzz or flitter in sight. He was not a good mother.
So, on this day when we think of and honor our mothers, remember Mother Earth and treat her as lovingly as we do our children, pets and landscapes. Happy Mother’s Day.
© The Hoosier Gardener
