Ed Camp's Gardenia

I began this day with something beautiful and a happy memory to go with it.


I knew Ed Camp from the Farmer's Market in Polk County, where I used to live. Ed was a sweet and lively old fellow, both wiry and resilient. He was a Polk County native. He had lived the history of the county, and he loved to entertain the market regulars with his colorful stories.


His first job was trapping muskrats in the creeks and selling their pelts. He worked in the Pacolet Valley vineyards, back when locals sold grapes to tourists when the train stopped in Tryon. He was a mill worker and served as a local constable - the source of many of his entertaining stories. He served in the Army during World War II, but returned home to Polk County to live out the remainder of his long life.
  
It would be accurate to say that Ed was the heart of the Farmer's Market. He came for its struggling beginning and rarely missed a Saturday, though he was in his 80s. He sold home-made apple butter, which he cooked in his oven overnight, and he always had a few plants to sell, cuttings which he had rooted from the plants in his yard. He sold a few things, but I think he primarily came to market for the fellowship. He gave away his laughter and his stories for free, and he was more than likely to slip you a little jar of apple butter for free as well. If he met a stranger, he remedied that situation in short order.


He called his gardenias "old fashioned." I don't know the name of the cultivar, but it's a good one. We brought one of his rooted cuttings with us when we moved. Last year, it grew a fine healthy shrub, but not one flower. This morning, as I was out with my coffee for the garden walk-about, I thought a piece of white paper had caught on the gardenia. Oh, no, there instead was this magnificent blossom. I don't think I've ever seen one like it, or one so beautiful. Gerry thoughtfully planted the bush next to the screened porch. It's covered with buds, so we will be enjoying its sweet fragrance as we sit outside.


We made a sign for Ed for his birthday one year - "Ed's Garden Spot: Famous Since 1924". He loved it and displayed it with his market goods every week. We don't have a sign, but I'm happy to say that dear Ed's garden spot is blooming away in our back yard. I'm happy for the lovely flower and the sweet man who gave it to us.


The best plants in the garden are those that come with a story about the person who gave it to you.