How I caught my Grandad's green thumb.
Photography & words by Siân Landau.
Gardening, whether this is indoors or outdoors, is often passed down to us from a relative or family friend, and at Plant Sit we always want to hear how people get into it.
Siân Landau has shared her heartwarming story of how she caught her Grandad’s green thumb.
When it comes to plants and gardening, my Grandad has always been my go-to for advice and information.
He’s always had a pretty care-free approach to gardening: he’ll keep plants watered and occasionally fed with liquid manure that he always manages to hold of somehow (even though his house is in the heart of North London), he’ll remove deadheads when they need it, but will generally just let nature do her thing - and somehow everything grows to be spectacularly big, and colourful.
There’s a great photo of the two of us next to this mega sunflower that grew in the front garden of my childhood home. I showed it to him recently, and he laughed as he told me that he just carelessly chucked a few sunflower seeds he’d found in his pocket, thinking that a couple of little shoots might grow, and was as amazed as 7-year-old me that one of them grew to be so tall!
Around the same time, my sister and I were fascinated by this one plant in Nan and Grandad’s yard that had bright pink flowers, and they’d only open up at night, so whenever we were at their house for the weekend, Grandad would let us stay up to see them bloom. During the day he showed us how to collect the little black seed pods from them, then he’d send us home with our bountiful harvest safely stored in a little envelope. Although, we never managed to grow our own one at home - our mum has always told us she’s ‘no good with plants’.
During my time at university, and beyond, I lived with my Nan and Grandad, and slowly began to fill their shelves and mantelpieces with my own collection of houseplants. Grandad continued to give me tips, and show me tricks, to keep them happy, and even bought me my own little kit of gardening gloves and tools. Equally, I introduced him to some new and exotic-looking houseplants, and loved being able to share my knowledge with him.
Years after my Nan was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease, when she began to deteriorate, my Grandad and I became her primary carers. Our relationship changed, and the stresses that came with looking after Nan put a strain on the both of us. However, the one thing that never changed was our connection through our plants. We’d each take time to tend to the plants in the yard, and talk about how much they’d bloomed, or where we would plant seeds next. He’d always tell me when he spotted a new shoot on one of my plants, and we would share a moment of delight at the sight of a new leaf unfurling.
In the recent months since my Nan passed away, we spent time tidying up and clearing out cupboards and drawers, looking for a way to make a fresh start, and learning how to live without her. Then, in a moment I can only describe as ‘delightfully spooky’, he found something tucked away at the back of a dresser drawer. A crumpled envelope, full of little black seed pods. There was our fresh start.
Siân is an artist living in North London, and if you want to hear more then give her a follow on Instagram. If you have a story of your own to share, we would love to hear it: get in touch 🌿