Oh dear, I was a good girl generally, but not in the garden. We made rose petal perfume, chopped a worm in half, and pulled a branch off a tree trying to get at conkers. My mum used to drag us around Ness Gardens to look at the rhododendrons (yawn) so I hated them and used to pull off the buds of the one at home. We also picked laburnum pods to play with even though we knew they were poisonous, and picked white berries (snow berries?) off the hedge as they made a satisfying 'pop!' under your shoe. Oh and we blew dandelion clock seeds all over the place. My poor mum has never held a grudge and now gives me plants and advice for my own garden. I did in recent years see a little girl at a birthday party bashing the flowers off a lovely magnolia with a stick but couldn't get to her in time. I'm so sorry for all my gardening sins. I really didn't know just how awful I was.
