Seedlings

Thinking back I can remember that I have always had some interest in plants and how they grow. As a youngster I used to remove the seeds from tomatoes, grapes and melons and plant them in small pots to try to get them to grow. It was difficult to get the grape and melon to germinate in the damp northern clime of Belfast, but tomatoes were happy to oblige and grew but never ripened. At that time people did not grow much in their gardens beyond potatoes (yes, that's Ireland for you) and a few cabbages or lettuces. Melons and grapes appeared very mysterious, at least to me, and so any sign of life from them was a joyous time. I used to prune my mother's rose bushes and sprayed them against aphids (something I would never do now). Roses were the pride of most gardens then and much care was lavished on them - bone meal fertiliser etc, which no other plant was worthy of.

I have also a keen memory of being at one of the big houses of the local gentry with my mother on some kind of business (definitely not a social visit) and being shown the vines in a large glasshouse. Grapes hung temptingly from them. I had never seen grapes on the actual plant before and remember being astounded by the sight of these large climbers heavy with fruit. I don't believe I saw a grape vine again until I went to France many years later. But I was definitely impressed.