calendula on father's day

This is my dad's hoe. He always called it a "chankoh," but I can find no references to such a tool online. He told me it was something they used when he was growing up in Singapore.

Dad loved to garden, so when he died unexpectedly in the spring of 2008, we gave out seed packets at his service. It was a hard year for all of us, but the kids and I did manage to empty a few packets into some dirt. Sometimes we remembered to water.

Fortunately, one of the seed packets contained calendula. When the kids were small, I kept calendula spray in the fridge for cuts and scrapes. It is reputed to have antiseptic properties, and it doesn't sting. Calendula, it also turns out, is a determined flower; growing is what-it-does.

Here is calendula in March:

And in April:

Last week the petals had dropped off, so I pulled the plants.

A close-up of the seed heads:

And finally, after a few sessions of clipping and sifting...

...we can start all over again.Yes, these flowers and seeds are descendants of the original seed packet handed out at Dad's memorial service over two years ago. The calendula plants have lived with us all this time.

With any luck, we will always have them.