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 “It is not what you do for your children, but what you have taught them to do for themselves, that will make them successful human beings.”

—Ann Landers

The next chapter is upon me. The nest has been emptied.

 It was the hardest thing I've had to do to say goodbye to my best friend, movie watching partner, fishing buddy, sushi sampler, cross country ski adventure comrade, nursery hand, personal plant shopper and constant companion of the last 18 years. But time marches on and little kids grow into adults and adults grow into old timers and old timers......well, we will save that one for another chapter.

Touring the E.H. Lohbrunner Alpine Gardener with Anya I'm not sure she really realizes how lucky she is to have this garden in her backyard yard now. If she gets homesick she will be able to go walk around one of the best rock gardens around and hopefully feel right at home. I made the trip up to Vancouver B.C. to help Anya get situated at the University of British Columbia where she is studying Bioeconomics and Forestry. I can feel really great that she is surrounded by smart students and knowledgeable professors, on a beautiful campus with some amazing gardens and the ocean, forest, mountains and a culturally diverse city right by.

Gladiolus saundersii Blooming in the UBC Botanical Garden

Anya has been my nursery hand since I started this business almost 20 years ago.

It's been fun to watch her blossom into an adult and I'm so excited for her on her next adventure.

I've said this many times on this blog, Life comes at you fast and in the last year it came at me just like when the millenium falcon makes the jump to hyperspace. You can't go back and relive it but you can savor all the memories and I'm so thankful for the last 18 years. Even with it's challenges and setbacks I wouldn't trade if for anything. I know Anya is going to do amazing things, her generation is going to have to solve all the problems that capitalist greed has created for this planet and her inhabitants and I know Anya is up to the challenge. I wish her all the luck and I hope I gave her all the tools she needs to make it on her own. 

It rained hard in Vancouver and I really loved the feeling of it, came home to temperatures in the 90's and it still feels very much like summer. 

Mark