Hitty Rose's favorite spring activity is working in her Mother's greenhouse. Mother starts all of the flowers and vegetables for their family, and always has extras to give to the neighbors. Hitty Rose loves the pansies the best and spends a lot of time giving them special attention. Grandpa told her that if she talks to the plants, they will grow bigger. It sounds like one of his jokes, but just to be on the safe side, Hitty Rose talks to all of the flowers as she helps Mother water them.

Hitty Rose wears a big canvas apron when she helps in the greenhouse. She doesn't want to get her clothes all dirty. And working in a greenhouse can get pretty messy--especially if you are pricking out the tomato seedlings and putting them into bigger pots! She especially likes repotting the cherry tomatoes. Every summer she has a contest with her Grandma, over who can grow the biggest cherry tomato plant, and this year, Hitty Rose intends to win. She has been talking to her best friend Evie's Grandma, and she told her to use horse manure on the plants. Hitty Rose's grandparents don't have any horses, but she knows someone who does--if she can just work up the courage to ask for a bucket of horse manure!

It is still too early to plant the flowers and vegetables outside. In the North Country, most gardeners plant during the last week of May. Mother is a bit adventurous, and she sometimes put hardy flowers out earlier than that, but then if a late spring frost is predicted, she has to run out and spread sheets on them for protection. Hitty Rose remembers one year when there was a surprise frost and they lost five rows of tomato plants. Boy, was Mother mad!