By Charlotte Kovach
My mom and I plant marigolds every year. I love planting with her. On our deck, there is a small container that contains marigold seeds. I always wondered why we had so many marigold seeds, and out of all flowers why marigolds? So, I asked, “Mom, why do we have so many marigold seeds”? She told me that they were my great grandmother's seeds, and had been passed down to her mom, and then her. That was in summer, now it is fall.
The marigolds we planted in the spring had overgrown into several big, pretty bushes. I went to a pumpkin patch and saw some marigolds on the way there. They were so small that I thought they were a different kind of marigold. Then, I saw some at the pumpkin patch. They were slightly different from the ones I saw on the way there, but they were still so small! When I got home, I looked up marigolds on the Internet and in almost all the pictures the marigolds were small. I realized that not only were our big, beautiful marigolds our marigolds, but they were special. I am so happy because my mom told me that I will be the next owner of the marigold seeds.
Charlotte is a fifth grader at Turtle Creek Elementary STEAM Academy. Charlotte’s story and artwork were part of the Turtle Creek Elementary winning team entry for the Plant Love Story Challenge hosted by the Phipps Conservatory and Botanic Gardens. You can read Charlotte’s teammate Brianna Smithwick’s story ‘Amazing Pumpkin’ also here on PLS!