April 24: Happy Reminders

 

I looked out our bedroom window this morning and remembered three different people in a matter of seconds.

Nancy gave me the deep red antique rambling rose that is blooming right now outside my bedroom window and in front of the back porch.  They were on the property when her husband's grandparents settled that spot.  She gave me two different roses but only one has survived.  The one in front of the back porch I rooted myself.  

The golden irises are standing tall and lovely.  They have multiplied many times over.  Last year I gave some away to two friends.  One of them sent me a message and photo on Tuesday showing me that hers were in bloom.  It was a sweet moment to share with a lovely person.  

Those irises were the last thing I picked up when I left Grandmother's house after I'd finished sorting out all the boxes and furniture and trash and such.  Clearing up her house was a months' long process only because it is a good 45 minutes or so from here and I couldn't go up but once a week.  Grandmother was a very neat person and didn't accumulate a lot of stuff and what she had was neatly organized.  However, my uncle was less so and had brought in things from my aunt's when she died.  

The last time I went up and put the last box in place, I walked about the yard and saw the iris blooming against a tree.  I meant only to break off the flower and bring it home, but the whole rhizome popped right up, and I brought it home and planted it.  That would have been about 2007, I think perhaps 2008.  Now I have dozens of them and have given them away several times as I've divided and planted more elsewhere in my yard.  

Like Granny, Grandmother often planted pass along flowers.  I seriously doubt she ever bought flowers to plant.  She was more prone to 'take a bit' of flowers from someone she was visiting.  She had a green thumb and kept lovely plants in pots on her sunny back porch and planted bits about the house in the yard.  

Each time I see those irises, so formal and straight standing, I think of Grandmother.

And then there is the New Dawn rose blooming right outside my bedroom window.  It is one of the first things we planted in this yard.  Granny and I did it together.  She dug it up at her house and brought it to me and we worked together to set it in the ground right under my bedroom window.   Every year on Mother's Day it is in full bloom but that shall not be so this year, because it's bloomed fully for Easter week.

Granny shared my love for flowers and when the roses were in bloom, she always got me a full vase of cut flowers to enjoy.  If I failed to visit her while the roses were in bud and blooming, she brought them to me.  

Angela gifted me a lovely deep reddish maroon iris about a year and a half ago in the fall.  I planted those and tuberose that she sent along as well.  The irises haven't bloomed yet, but iris generally are a bit fussy about blooming once they are moved.  They'll settle in and bloom in another year or so I expect.  The tuberose has bloomed twice since she sent them to me.  I noticed they have come up again as well.  One morning I shall look out and enjoy those flowers as well.  

It's so lovely to be reminded of family and friends because they shared their flowers with me!

Amazon Associates Affiliate Link:  If you use my link to enter Amazon and place an order, I may earn a small commission on qualifying products.  Thank you!