Flora & Fauna - the Flora part anyway!

Hi folks! Will here for a slightly different (and a bit tamer) photo blog than the last few! This time it is about my lifelong love affair with plants and gardening - both indoor and outdoor.

It all started when I was seven. I was in 2nd grade. Miss Garneau was my teacher - loved her French accent so much! She had invited a member of the Burpee Seed Company to visit with our class. He showed slides and narrated a nice dialog about his company and the world of gardening. At the end of this tutorial, he asked if any of us were interested in being "salesmen/saleswomen." We were offered the opportunity of selling Burpee Seeds from door to door. I don't know why but I leapt at the opportunity. We were given a small stipend for selling the seeds and were also given the opportunity to choose some seed packs for ourselves.

I took to it like a duck to water. As I remember, I came out #1 in sales for the whole class. This not only threw open the door to a selling career (where I spent nearly 50 years), but started me on my lifelong love of gardening, both indoors and out. My choice of seeds were "King Tut" marigold seeds. It was the late 50s and that naming came from the fact that Egyptologists had started making unbelievable finds in that King's tomb! There was a whole "Egypt Chic" that followed in that era.

So, I proudly told my father about my recent success. He was partially pleased... being a very successful salesman, himself. But, he wasn't to keen on the fact that I wanted to start a garden with my "King Tuts." He was watching my pre-adolescent development leaning towards more artsy things instead of little league - like he wanted for me! In any case, I was granted a small parcel of land on the side of our house no more than 2' x 3'. To my delight, I had great success with the "Tuts." I don't believe that my delight was shared by my father, however. Being a headstrong young kid, I persisted with gardening in our other homes during my childhood. My father grew used to it. No future "shade" was thrown on the subject!

Add a decade to the timeline. I entered engineering school in Newark, N.J.; I moved in with my Aunt in nearby Jersey City. The gardening bug was still within me and I lavished my talents upon my Aunt's backyard. Her house was a duplex. The lady that lived upstairs was a childhood friend of hers and fellow Finn. I always enjoyed listening to them banter back and forth in Finnish - not understanding a single word. Ida, the lady upstairs, was very impressed with the garden that I had created and complimented me frequently. She called the local newspaper and told them about this "Urban Oasis." To my surprise, one afternoon a photographer showed up to do a little spread in the paper on my garden! I was more than proud of this little patch of heaven!

Without going through each and every garden that I created over the years and across the country in the following years, I would like to highlight just a few of my favorites... outside and inside as well.

From '76 through 1991, I was an apartment dweller in San Francisco. For 12 years on 10th St. in the South of Market area, I gardened on the apartment buildings sunroof as well as in my very modestly sized one bedroom flat. I shared the roof garden with several other tenants. It had a very 1970s S.F. commune vibe. And, all of the sun bathers loved this garden in the city!

Living in New York City with my current spouse, Alan, presented quite a challenge. We had a rather cook book fire escape summer garden. But, in the living room a much bigger year round tropical garden flourished. That started my adventures into the orchid world.

Fast forwarding to the present, both indoor and outdoor gardens are a mainstay in my day to day retired life in the desert.

I am pleased to say that I have a lot of the original house plants that I purchased in San Francisco - some 40 to 50 years ago. About 20 years ago, an artist friend of ours gave me a cutting of his amazing 20' tall Euphorbia plant. It was spectacular in his gallery/atrium! I am proud to say that our 12 footer is doing quite well and cohabitating with one of my original Christmas cacti purchased from the Church St. Safeway supermarket in San Francisco back in 1976! TLC seems to really go the extra mile with my "planties!" And, they have brought me a lot of joy over the years.

I am pleased to have been born with a green thumb. It has been an enriching experience to help bring beauty into this world. And, for all of you fellow gardeners, I say thank you! The care you lavish on your botanical family is the real beauty of love!

 

Bio of Will Seagers:

Will Seagers (also credited as Matt Harper), within his multifaceted careers and participation in numerous gay communities across the country in the '70s and '80s and beyond, worked as a print model, film performer, and DJ, just to name a few. He made iconic appearances in releases from Falcon, Hand in Hand, Joe Gage, Target (Bullet), J. Brian, Steve Scott, and more, including in lead roles in major classics like Gage's L.A. Tool & Die (1979) and Scott's Wanted (1980). He brought strong screen presence and exceptional acting to his roles and was scene partners with many fellow legends of classic porn.