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When I was just four years old I would help my grandmother plant seeds in our family garden. My little hands would hold a fistful of mustard, beans, corn, cucumber, etc. No matter how small the seeds were; I would place them meticulously, one at a time, at the depth described to me by my grandma. I was very proud of doing a good job of following directions.

Early one morning, grandmother gave me a fistful of seeds that sort of resembled apple seeds. She cautioned me not to put them in my mouth. She had never said that before. I was never tempted to taste any seeds before either. Of course I wanted to know why I couldn't chew on these. She told me that they would make you crazy. The urge to taste them was strong, but I obeyed her. She said that were going to plant a surprise.

I watched as she dug a little trench in front of our porch. I supposed that these would be flowers. Next she tied strings to stakes and suspended more strings to the eaves of the porch roof. My curiosity was running wild. All my grandmother would say was, "You'll see." Finally she showed me where to poke seeds into the soil. We followed up with our watering cans to gently moisten the soils.

Days of waiting anxiously finally yielded some green pushing through the soil. I was so excited. It didn't take long before the young seedlings were twisting around the strings. There were big green leaves forming that looked suspiciously, to me, like green beans. This was not a happy turn of events for me at all. I did not like green beans. What kind of a surprise was this? No matter how I begged and pleaded to know what the surprise was; all grandma would say was, "You'll see."

Before long, being on the porch was like being in a room with a green wall of leaves. I liked the shade that the vines created. I liked the patterns of sunlight playing through the leaves. One day I noticed some buds forming. The buds turned into blossoms that looked like wrinkled, deflated balloons. I had never heard of a balloon plant before. I wanted to [play with them. Grandma said not to touch them or they might fall off. I wondered if that was the surprise. Eventually I stopped asking because I knew what grandmother would say.

After breakfast one special day, grandmother took my hand. "Close your eyes," she instructed me. "No peeking." I wanted to know what we were doing. All she said was, "You'll see. " She guided me slowly onto the porch. "Surprise!" When I opened my eyes all that I could see were big blue flowers with creamy white throats. The wrinkled balloons were gone. I was awe struck. I had never seen anything so beautiful in my life. It was like heaven came down and lifted me into the sky. I couldn't stop jumping up and down and squealing with glee. "Morning Glories." Grandma said.

This is the best surprise plant that any young child could ever given to them. Whenever I see Morning Glory plants, I am always reminded of one glorious morning, my grandmother, and me

Learn more about this author, Betty Rodman.
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