Every great love story begins with a first look. And the first time I laid eyes on Asarum, I was in love instantly. It was love from afar, as I only saw pictures at first. The White Flower Farm catalog teased my first glimpse of this beautiful plant, putting it together as part a collection that also featured some hosta and astilbe. The fleshy leaves of Asarum europaeum comprised one of the more subtle performers, but I loved their unassuming texture, the mottled accents of their veins, the tiny hairs lining the edges. It was the love of a single plant like this that fostered a greater, all-encompassing love for gardening.
That’s how it began for me – a fascination with a few individual plants. The butterfly-like floating wonder of a Siberian iris blossom ~ the geometric perfection and wondrous propagation techniques of a Sempervivum ~ the graceful arching beauty of a branch of bleeding hearts; this was how the seeds of my gardening life were sown, and once they took root, there was no stopping any of it. How strange that something as little as a single Asarum could spark such a grand lifelong passion. The biggest surprises often come from the smallest, unlikeliest sources.
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