I developed my love of gardening in South Africa, where we had very few plants. When the rain stopped falling and water was rationed, everything died. I loved my bottlebrush bush and my wall of rubber trees. I also loved the trees along the road. I used to climb them and pretend that a tree was my house. Under the trees was dust. I used to brush the dust and make it my home, too. This is a game that I played with Tamsin, which was probably endlessly boring for her but fun for me. Other flowers I liked were the Protea, the Mimosa, and the Jacaranda.
