Gardening On The Dashboard

Once upon a time, my sister and her family occupied a suburban-type home where she indulged her love of gardening. There was a large vegetable garden on the hill every summer and she spent much of her time beautifying the yard with landscaped beds. Tucked away into a corner of the back yard, a bed devoted to herbs thrived and a wall of blooming morning glory flowers greeted anyone who climbed the steps to the back deck.

But then, with family grown and moved away, retirement approached. They made the decision to take to the road. So, they sold their house, along with much of its furnishings and invested in a luxurious recreational vehicle.

For almost ten years this couple has travelled the highways from coast to coast, visiting just about every state besides both Canada and Mexico. The one activity my sister really missed was being able to get her hands dirty and watch things grow.

Oh, there have been attempts along the way to satisfy that yearning. Each springtime - no matter where they happened to be at the moment - pots of flowers were purchased and carefully packed each time they moved to a different location. At times she would have to leave the plants behind with friends because they were headed for colder climates.

Hope springs eternal, so they say, and my sister made the best of a not-very-satisfying situation. Then, with the adoption of a cat, came further complications. Being a mostly-indoor creature, pots of plants set about drew the cat's natural curiosity with disasterous results. All plants had to move out-of-doors in order to survive.

Still, my sister missed the pleasure of caring for growing plants indoors.

Something caught on a TV garden program provided a possible solution. Now she has both a cat and plants sharing the close indoor space of their RV. The solution? Terrariums on the dashboard.