That flowers year after year....

What is it?

A Rose Plant :-)



Who gave it?

My gardener :-)

When?

Today evening :-)

Why?

Because it was his B'day :-)



That is what touched me that instead of the Birthday Boy getting a gift from me; it was the other way round.

I was really overwhelmed, when he brought in the potted plant all for £12 and gifted it to me as a kind gesture on his B'day.

The story doesn't end here.

Last evening after he had finished his work in the garden, which was going on for a couple of days, I told him I would pay him today.

He said he couldn't come because it was his B'day and would collect the money the day after...

I said: OK :-)

Not really prepared for his B'day which came as a last minute surprise for me, I somehow looked around my house for any greeting card I had in stock.

Thankfully, there was a nice red rose card I had once bought from the British Red Cross - The Humanity Rose adapted from an original painting by Elizabeth Cameron.

This beautiful red rose was specially bred to mark the 125th birthday of the British Red Cross.

I kept all his money ready along with the card in an envelope just in case if he comes today, or else I would give him tomorrow.

Lo and Behold!

He turned up with his rose plant to surprise me ;-) not knowing that it was going to be a sweet coincidence - as he was going to get a greeting card from me that also had a beautiful rose in it :-)



Now let me end my story by telling you that he's not only my gardener, he's the gardener of the nearby housing estate of which he's also the Secretary, in charge of maintenance and repairs for all the 24 flats in that society. Gardening is his hobby. He's passionate about it just as I am about poetry :-) Hence, he doesn't do gardening just for the heck of it - he puts his heart and soul into it....and beautifies gardens with his magic hands.

Sometimes he just walks into my garden, and does those everyday little tasks of pruning, weeding, shearing, mowing and trimming and doesn't even charge me a penny....because he loves gardening and takes care of my garden just as his own. He'll often advise me how to keep my garden neat & tidy and I get to learn all those handy tips that make me benefit from his years of experience. For big gardening jobs, he'll often charge me only for the materials he needs to buy (e.g. seeds, fertilizers, plant food, bark, compost, wooden rolls, boards and borders for boundaries, etc) and will give his labour for free, diligently giving me the receipt of all the things bought just to show that he's not conning me ;-) Sometimes even if he does charge me for labour, he'll keep his rate well below the market price so that he can keep himself affordable and I can keep giving him gardening work which he so loves doing. He's a very chatty and friendly person, liked by many of our neighbours for his helpful and caring ways. He reminds me of the character in 'Bawarchi' wherein Rajesh Khanna was liked by one and all....for his humanity and generosity.

We are a block of 14 houses situated outside his complex of 24 flats. He maintains the lawns and gardens of his complex but mine is the only garden he does outside his complex as the residents of the nearby houses either maintain their own gardens or have other gardeners who come from someplace else to do their regular maintenance.

That's my Gardening story for now.

Hope you loved reading it as much as I loved writing it :-)

Ending this Blog with sincere wishes for him to have a happy, healthy life.

What more can I wish him on his B'day ?! :-)

Cheers
Aparna

http://blogs.boloji.com/alwaysaparna

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