I have no children but was handed on my love for gardening from my paternal grandmother and grandfather, both roses and vegetables.

In fact I just commented to my brother (on Facebook lol) that I had just bought an apricot rose and it reminded me of our grandmothers rose garden.
He posted back that he thinks it's in our DNA because our father grew roses too.

Those grandparents lived 1200 miles away but I remember their gardens, small in size but large in memory.

Denise

I'm not sure how much love of gardening comes from participation as a child vis a vis the memory of growing up with loved ones who gardened. When I was my daughter's age (mid 20s) I had no interest in gardening -- didn't have the time, and she is the same. As I got older, however, I remembered my mother's garden in New York -- tulips, daffodils, peonies, daylilies, irises and hollyhocks as well as roses, and tried my hand at all of them. And of course in southern California, the peonies were a complete disaster (as were the lilies of the valley, alas).
In terms of handing it on, I'm going with the indirect approach -- letting her see what pleasure I get out of it, and then allowing her "gardening DNA" to take over when the time is right. That said, nieces and nephews have all received seed packets and little gloves for various celebratory occasions. I heartily recommend nasturtiums for almost instant gratification.

"Gardening Infection"....I love it campanula. Your experience, onederw's and mine are the same; it's a latent infection that often manifests itself later in life.

Get ready, I'm sure I'll have to blog on this thought soon :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Musings blog

Yes, I agree - in my family the love of gardening has shown up at about the same age when it is safe to pass on family heirlooms, antiques, etc. Busy busy people in their 20s & early 30s are not safe to give family heirlooms to (except perhaps jewelry or silver - they may not use those, but they don't lose them!) - they show no interest. However, if you wait until their late 30s or early 40s the interest & appreciation is suddenly there.

I have found the same thing with gardening - I have lured several nieces & nephews into gardening, but not when they thought anything they did needed to be "cool" & "high tech".

Jackie

My twelve year old has picked up a lot just by hanging around me so much. We have a membership at the local arboretum so I drag her along with me about once a week during the spring and summer. She would probably make a half way decent tour guide by this point. I'm sure there are many things she'd rather do than garden, but she does have a small garden all her own and she picked the plants and tends it herself. She definitely knows a lot more than I did at her age.

I think if kids are going to become gardeners we shouldn't make it a chore or requirement to work in one. That's the surest way to make the association of "Garden" with "work"

And, as people have pointed out offering opportunities but not pushing it if there's no interest or if interest wanes. (I've heard of teenagers who garden, but I personally haven't met one who wouldn't rather hang out with friends or the computer)

I learned from seeing my mom spend every free minute in the garden. She looked so happy when she was sweaty and dirty near the stinking cow manure.

On more many occasions my kids had to come to the garden to find me or talk with me.

I heard nothing about gardening from them until I heard them pointing out my garden to high school friends who stopped by. And the friends saying "wow, our garden looks like ......" or "no one sets foot in ours"

In their first apartments window box herbs made an appearance. Then I started getting calls about balcony tomatoes and composting.

And I'm just sitting here writing this with a huge, knowing smile on my face!
What a great question to help me feel I did something right!
idabean

I am in my early twenties and I really believe that gardening is in my bones. My maternal grandfather grew rare dahlias that my mother dug up and grew in our yard after he passed away. He also grew irises, tulips, and roses.

My mother worked at Garden Valley Ranch when she was pregnant with me, and growing up, we had the most incredible garden that was half dream land of winding swaths of grass, japanese maple trees, rose bushes, dahlias, irises, sweet peas, and peonies and half a vegetable and fruit garden that was so productive you could feed a small army. We had every edible plant you could imagine, potatoes, plum trees, apple trees, cherry trees, asian pear trees, lemon trees, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, artichokes, snap peas, green beans, tomatoes, strawberries, carrots, melons, onions, eggplant, squash, herbs, peppers, and more. I wish I had pictures. It makes my heart melt to think about that glorious yard. I remember the roofers coming and while they were up there all they could do was swoon over our garden. It was beautiful, so neat and green and well kept. My mom still gardens, but without all of her kids around to help with the hard stuff, she has had to simplify.

Now I live on my own and I have started a garden in my spare time. It started with a pot of wildflowers, and now it has expanded to sweet peas, roses, dahlias, peonies, and a lemon tree. It is not a lot, but it is so satisfying to see the growth of my very own plants. I take so much pride in all of them and it relaxes me so much just to spend a while after work and school watering and checking on them. My friends call me "old lady" when I bring out my gloves and kneeling pad, but there is no place I would rather be than in a garden. I am so grateful to everything my mom taught me growing up, and I cant wait to share some cut flowers with her.

yep, as idabean reminds us, gardening associated with chores or work is just so much less satisfying for youngsters but, I firmly believe in some sort of gardening osmosis whereby knowledge is secretly transmitted to others, sometimes lying dormant till circumstances are just right then, wham, the garden bug explodes into life. Relationships between parents and children is so often fraught while the extra distance between grandparents and grandchildren tends to be less problematic and coloured by expectations, duty and lots of other stuff which gets in the way of just doing. So, on this note, how many of you have fond memories of learning with grandparents, aunts and uncles or even neighbours. For myself, my mum died when I was a child and my dad was always too busy working but my deepest horticultural interests stem from my grandads allotment - we were always called upon to do the brassica walk - a kind of sideways stamping shuffle to firm the ground...and then, the joy of the potato harvest - something I definately passed onto my children.
However far down the technological road we march, I suspect humans still retain a racial memory of farming the land and its inhabitants which strikes a deeply resonant chord when we have the chance to allow ourselves to listen. I feel proud, connected and blessed to keep this tradition thriving and fully intend to have my grandaughter alongside me in her (portable)cradle.

oh campanula (is it Susy?)

DO take a photograph of your granddaughter in the cradle next to you as you garden. What a memory it would preserve for her. And what if she grew up to be a famous gardener or landscaper or earth scientist, it would show her "roots".

Denise

Okay Campanula, I dug up a couple of pictures you might enjoy and blogged away.

And in answer to your second question, my grandparents, both sides, were dirt farmers and I spent a lot of time growing up with my maternal grandparents. In fact, my mind's eye picture of my grandmother is always in a faded dress, in her vegetable garden, in the sun.

Here is a link that might be useful: Garden Musing blog on the Gardening Infection

aaah, prof, your daughter is a delight....and you are right, she has that look on her face. So yep, I would say that sometime in her late 20s or 30s, she finds her thoughts ranging beyond the immediacies of family, home, work and friends. You can run far and you can run fast but you are never going to escape from all those little familiar rituals (such as picking beans wearing your goggles) which comfort us in their easy familiarity. One generation to another, what better gift can we hope to give than a knowledge that the world always turns, seeds germinate, grow and die but life continues eternally.