Date: Mon, 9 Jan 2012 16:39:58 -0500
From: nabooko
Subject: A Row of Begonias .. . .
Pittsboro, in the very early 1970s, when I first moved here, did not offer a wide variety of foods- as far as I was concerned. When you can’t find a head of “exotic” common romaine lettuce, time to shop elsewhere. And goodness knows, the choices all around the county were slim pickings.
I usually drove from my home to Siler City. Even though since childhood we kids had poked fun at Siler City and we didn’t know anything about the town. If you really wanted to insult a girl, you would refer to her as “Siler City Sue”- Don’t know where that came from- beats me. After all- Aunt Bea lived there- how bad could it be?
Main street downtown Siler City (Chatham Ave) was a bustling, busy area. A large drug store, a Belks, a dime store, jewelry shops, Farmer’s Alliance, men’s clothing store and hardware. A sewing machine center and a shoe repair shop. There was a FoodLion store in the old shopping center where the present day P.T.A. Thrift shop stands.
I would drive west on hyway 64, short-cut to downtown by turning on East Raleigh St. Several homes are sprinkled along that street- one in particular I always noticed. It was to my left, only slightly up a hill, about 50ft. A blacktop driveway led to a long low brick house. I never, in all the years I drove there, saw anyone about or around the house. But the outstanding thing was, along side of the driveway- the entire length, to the left, was a row of Red flowered, red leaved begonias.- Not five or six, two dozen- more like five hundred plants.
Not that the begonias were unique- they are and have been available in pks or cells during the springtime at garden centers for decades. But, be aware, this type of begonia is considered an annual- and is not hardy in this area. Buying enough plants at retail to plant that area would prove very expensive.
But every year, they were there- in their full glory. It always astounded me- How in the world could they afford to plant that area every year? I never got around to stopping and asking- At one point, it occurred to me that just maybe they mulched with pine straw or something- But again, during the winter, I never looked that closely.
The years went by, Pittsboro finally discovered romaine lettuce and quite a few other wonderful types. Pittsboro became a designation- I stopped going to Siler City- and not because I stopped shopping there, main street Siler City started going downhill and almost faded away.
This past summer, I planned to go to Siler City for something and I made up my mind I was going to stop and ask those folks how in the world they managed to keep that huge bed of red begonias going year after year-
As I approached the area, looking to my left, for the flower bed, something was different. There were no red begonias. . . a couple of skimpy little untended rose bushes- Even the house looked different- silent, dark and lonely.
I felt lonely too.
N.A. Booko
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