Mum's Rhymes

The Saga of the Cardston Greenhouses(Alfred Salway’s Greenhouses)Early the greenhouse season came,But early or late the work’s the same,Bundles of seeds must be undone,And planted carefully everyone.Tomatoes and celery are the first,Pansies and Asters and Silverworsts,Carnations, Petunias, and Lobelia blue,These are the first he sows for you.The earth must be of different kind,To suit the plants he has in mind.Some of the boxes need more loam,Or sand, or clay, brought far from home.This must be mixed and turned with mightThen sifted ‘til the mixtures right,Only the florist seems to know,How every plant it’s best can grow.There are the fires to keep alright,Seeds must grow both day and night,And watered carefully each day,The florist has no time for play.In dark brown flats, there in long rows,He spots each tiny shoot that grows,He visions them in flaming green,Mirage of blooming flowers is seen.He lifts to peep beneath the shade,To see what progress and seeds have made.If bursting through, the shading’s done,The tiny shoots now need the sun.Still night and day the firing goes,More boxes added to the rows.One greenhouse now is crammed to fill,But still he works with all good will.The early plants are now ‘Just so’,And we all to the work must go.And lift the tiny plants with care,Mum's Poems pg 33