Get Love, Hope & Laughter ... in the Garden Now!

Check out this collection of gardening stories about romance found among the plants! [GreenPrints]( February 14, 2023  [YOU DESERVE STORIES WITH LOVE, HOPE & LAUGHTER—READ THE STORIES IN THIS COLLECTION NOW!]( When you read this special GreenPrints Collection Gardening Romance: Stories of love, hope & laughter, you get unique and tender stories that will have you smiling, nodding in agreement, and even laughing. Start reading—and enjoying—right now! Dear Gardener, Gardening romance? Is there really such a thing? Sure there is—and thank God! When you read the special GreenPrints Collection [Gardening Romance: Stories of love, hope & laughter]( today, you get tender and engaging stories that are guaranteed to touch your heart! When I first read all these stunning stories, I gravitated to the “Lost and Found” story about a woman who loses her wedding ring in the garden. [Romance Collection]( The story reminded me of my mother Betty’s ring-disappearance episode. And like Judy Pellettieri, author of “Lost and Found,” my mother never found her lost ring—it wasn’t her wedding ring, but Mom cherished that ring. In the mid 1970s, Mom inherited an antique cameo ring from two elderly maiden aunts who were suddenly killed in an auto accident. With no children, Aunt Olga and Aunt Julia had an estate that conveyed to my mother and her three brothers—and the cameo ring soon became my mother’s prized possession. It was a remarkable ring with incredible detail, and my mother liked to flash it around when she wore it—long before Rihanna and Sarah Jessica Parker made cameo jewelry fashionable! One day, after spending time in the yard and garden, the ring was gone—my mother was distraught, and the entire family spent hours and hours hunting around the yard for the ring. We never found that ring—and my mother was heart-broken. She never had much jewelry, so that gorgeous ring mattered so much to her … especially with the family connection. Sometimes, though, a solution presents itself from unexpected sources. My sister Mary was working in jewelry retail at the time, and she arranged to replace the ring with an almost-exact duplicate. So, Mom got a “family” cameo ring replacement, and she was happy. For Judy Pellettieri, she too had a happy outcome—her husband resolved her wedding-ring disappearance with a very unique solution! You have to read the story to see how it ends. And here’s another story from the GreenPrints Collection [Gardening Romance: Stories of love, hope & laughter]( entitled “Memories and Butterflies”—you’ll be touched by this story when you get to the end! [Memories and Butterflies]( A gardener’s comfort. By Chuck Jutz [image] Some of my earliest memories, from the 1950s, are of my mother’s huge garden, necessitated by the need to feed 11 children on a small farm in southern Minnesota. On the west side, the garden was edged by a row of hollyhocks that seemed to grow 10 feet tall. Grapevines climbed the fence on the south and east, and a huge old Northwest Greening apple tree stood to the north. Where the hollyhocks ended was a row of what must have been wild plum trees, unlike any that I have been able to find since. They bore large quantities of small, purple, freestone fruit that ripened fairly late in the Fall. The plums were only the size of stuffed olives, but bursting with flavor and quite firm, so I could stuff my pockets with them and snack as I did chores. All Summer long, Mom picked green beans, red beets, tomatoes, sweet corn, peas, and her favorite, ground cherries (she turned the marble-sized yellow fruits into a seedy, acidic jam that makes my mouth pucker just remembering it). Mom would spend many days canning all the produce to provide us food all Winter. All the jars were carried upstairs to the “Fruit Room,” since we had no basement or cellar. Dad died when I was 11, and we moved to a small house in town. Gardening became one chore too many for Mom, trying to raise a large family alone. But the seeds had been planted in me. I was working my way through college—this was the Vietnam war era—when I was notified that my student deferment had been revoked: I was a credit shy of full-time student status. Since Kathy, my high-school sweetheart, and I were about to get married, my only option was to sign up for the Navy’s 120 Delay Enlistment Program, so I could avoid the draft and report for active duty in 120 days. After basic training, I was sent to the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California for nearly a year. Our first son was born there. We were often short of groceries and wished we could raise a garden to help us get by. Following my tour of duty in Vietnam, Kathy and I returned to our home town in Minnesota so our children—we now had a daughter—could know their grandparents. We agreed that a place in the country with space for a garden and for the kids to run was our goal. We found a large brick country school on two acres only a few miles from the farm I was born on. Turning a one-room school into a home was our first priority, but then came a garden. With a growing family—which eventually included six children—we needed it! This led to relearning how to can tomatoes, some years over 100 quarts. Kathy and I spent many hours canning and preserving in our tiny kitchen. We marveled at the jeweled colors of the jars of tomatoes, green and wax beans, pickles, applesauce, and jam. We used a dehydrator to make fruit leather from small bright-red crabapples that grew outside our bedroom window. (It was devoured in what seemed like seconds—after all the work that went into it.) Banana chips were made from slightly overripe bananas bought for pennies a pound, and excess onions were dried for soups and stews. The dehydrator also made many, many quarts of yogurt. We froze strawberries or made them into jam; rhubarb, likewise, as well as currants I found growing near the house. The work was good. Years went by quickly, as they do. Our children grew up and left. After being forced out of her job, Kathy announced that she “needed to go to the mountains to heal.” We found that peace and healing in the Big Horn mountains of Wyoming, but eventually the pull of being nearer to the grandchildren proved too strong, and we returned to Minnesota. Gardening was now confined to several raised beds. Even so, my garden soon produced too much for the two of us. Luckily, the grandkids inherited our appreciation for vegetables, so I had an outlet for excess tomatoes, squash, onions, peppers, and herbs. Without the pressure to feed a family, I could finally lavish a bit more attention on flowers and ornamentals. Actually, “lavish” is way too strong a word. I prefer perennials that require little more than occasional watering and Fall cleanup. Consequently, much of the front yard is taken up by crocuses and tulips, followed by iris, phlox, lilies, columbine, Dutchman’s breeches, Russian sage, a couple of yarrows and spiderworts, two rosebushes, and daisies, echinacea, and chrysanthemums. The one finicky flower I grew was an ever-expanding number of calla lilies, which in our harsh climate need to be dug in the Fall and replanted in the Spring. I grew them because they were the flowers Kathy carried in our wedding those many years ago. Kathy, being a stoic Norwegian, never said much about the flowers, but I know she secretly enjoyed them. As far as romantic gestures go, I’ll leave it to you to judge, but it felt right to me. Last Spring, about the time we Minnesotans start to hope that the weather might become bearable again, Kathy suffered a massive stroke, with no warning and no hope of recovery. She passed away four days later, leaving me with the old question: Why? Why was the most kind and loving person I have ever known gone so suddenly? All her life she had quietly shared her love with me, her children and grandchildren, and friends. She had been my example of faith and trust, encouraging me in my business. She had been the one to worry about how we could pay the bills. Without her, there seemed little reason to carry on the old planting ritual. My family and friends assured me that Kathy would still enjoy her calla lilies, so I planted them again. The following Summer it was cooler than normal, with frequent rains. My riot of flowers in the front yard outdid themselves, growing tall and blooming profusely. They attracted legions of butterflies: Monarchs, a Blue Swallowtail, and Painted Ladies, much to the delight of Liam, my 4-year-old neighbor. One sunny Summer day as I walked past the calla lilies, echinacea, and daisies to pick up the mail, Painted Lady butterflies by the hundreds fluttered by me. I stopped to watch in wonder and delight at their sheer number and their muted grey-brown and orange colors. Then I lifted my face to the sun, watching as they slowly fluttered off. That night I had the most vivid dream. Kathy and I were look-ing at the flowers and butterflies. The dream was in vibrant color, and I could talk to Kathy and feel her presence. I was so happy to talk to her, even knowing in my dream that she was dead—but she was there. I asked her, “Are you really still here to keep an eye on me?” She replied gently, using her favorite term for me: “You silly old man, who do you think sent all the butterflies?” ❖ Illustration by Patricia Savage What a tender and heartwarming story! Did you get a tingly feeling like I did when reading this? And the GreenPrints Collection [Gardening Romance: Stories of love, hope & laughter]( has many more stories for you—stories that deliver the same heartwarming sense of caring and love! Including this featured story—“Memories and Butterflies”—you get all the stories in this special GreenPrints Collection on love, hope, and laughter, including: - “Lost and Found” - “Let Me Have My Fury” - “Grass? Or Garden?” - “Memories and Butterflies” - “A Garden Engagement” - “OK, You Can Marry Him” - “Home Groan” - “Pruning” - “Who’s Watching Who?” - “Beginner’s Guide to Gardening” - “The Missing Ring” [Romance Collection]( And new stories are being added to this special Collection all the time—you get access to all of them! Please read what some subscribers say about how GreenPrints helps them: “Thank you for this beautiful love story.” —Dixie Stoll, Lapeer, MI “I laugh so hard tears stream down my face!” —Sierra Butler, Carmel, CA “I got the latest issue and it lifted my heart with much needed laughter! My husband just went under hospice care, and it is very trying on me. Thank you so much for coming through when I didn't realize I needed you!!” —Karen Tuffly, Kingston, OK “I love this little publication! It is so much more than just about gardening. It nourishes all our senses. Whatever the cost has to be, I will pay it! I don't want to be without GreenPrints.” —Sharon Park, Palo Cedro, CA The only way to get full access to the GreenPrints Collection [Gardening Romance: Stories of love, hope & laughter]( 11 other Collections filled with stories about gardening humor, gardening science, healing gardens, mystical gardens, gardening mishaps, and more—is to get [GreenPrints All-Access Membership]( with a whole year’s worth of stories in a full subscription to GreenPrints Magazine, both print and digital editions … and benefits galore for only $20 for an entire year! [$20 SPECIAL! 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[Claim Your $20 Membership Now!]( Summary of All-Access Membership Benefits 01 A full year of GreenPrints All-Access Membership, an exclusive club for those who want to enjoy the greatest gardening stories ever—save $40 off the annual cover price, a 67% discount! $60/year Now Only: $20/year! 02 1-year subscription to the GreenPrints Magazine, quarterly issues filled with humorous and heartwarming stories—in print, delivered directly to your door, and sent to you digitally as soon as issues are published! INCLUDED 03 Full and immediate access to the GreenPrints Digital Library—your membership includes access to the current digital magazine issue and back issues, a digital version of The Weeder’s Reader—plus the library is constantly growing with new content regularly added! 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You deserve all the benefits of tender and heartwarming gardening romance stories—please act now to claim your [GreenPrints All-Access Membership]( and get started reading all these stories about love, hope, and laughter in the garden! [GreenPrints All-Access Membership Special Offer—Only $20!]( 67% Off the Cover Price Now! [GreenPrints all access](  Claim your GreenPrints All-Access Membership today and get all the greatest gardening stories ever—heartwarming and funny, for you now! [YES, SIGN ME UP FOR JUST $20 FOR AN ENTIRE YEAR!]( About GreenPrints Magazine: GreenPrints shares the absolute best true stories of gardeners from all across the country. It’s the most inspiring, humorous, and heartfelt gardening magazine of them all. There is nothing else like it. We’re no spring seedling, either—we’ve been publishing for over 30 years. If you love to garden, you will love GreenPrints, THE magazine of personal gardening stories from the heart. 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