Friday, June 17, 2011

The gift of flowers

We lived for five years in British Columbia before we moved back to Ontario. While we lived in B.C., my grandmother mailed me some iris rhizomes. She had two types of old fashioned irises which we dug up and moved back with us to Ontario. My grandmother passed away a while back, but I think of her every time "her" irises bloom. No matter how many spectacular modern hybrid irises I get, hers holds a special place in my heart.
This is the larger one, the other is yellow and I thought I had taken a picture of it, but I was obviously hallucinating.

Another flower that holds a place in my heart is my blue columbine. It's not a showy new hybrid, it's actually a wild flower in other parts of the country. Our local columbine is red and yellow.
How this "wild" blue columbine came to be in my garden is an interesting story that still makes me wonder. After we had moved back to Ontario, a very dear friend of ours, Lily,  mailed us a packet of seeds she had purchase while touring Butchart Gardens outside of Victoria. I read the packet instructions and very carefully followed them. Nothing germinated. I tried the alternative planting instructions. Nothing. After two years of trying I gave up and tossed the rest of the seeds in a patch of garden and proceeded to forget about them. A few years later, our friend Lily died. That same year, the blue columbines flowered. I think of her often, but she seems especially close when her flowers bloom.

Does anyone else have flowers that mean more to them than just how decorative and beautiful they are?
AT

8 comments:

Denise said...

These flowers are just exquisite! You have chosen three flowers that I really love. I agree with you that old fashioned iris are the best. Our columbine here in North Carolina is the pink color; I've never seen blue ones, but they are gorgeous! And one of my all-time favorites are hydrangeas. I had lots of special flowers in our yard and my box garden in Greensboro, but just the one rosebush here. It is very lovely and fragrant when it blooms though. Thanks for visiting my blog and taking time to leave a comment. Have a wonderful weekend.

Hugs,

Denise at Forest Manor

Martha said...

Not only to have a garden but to have a memory garden -- that is wonderful! My mother was an expert at getting starts from plants and so those plants also flourish in my garden -- memories all! Much better than just picking something up at the garden center!

Unknown said...

Thanks for stopping by for a visit, and for your kind comments.

I love your beautiful flowers!

Have a great week!


Kathy

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

Oh my, what gorgeous flowers. I am not good at getting cuttings to grow, but then here in the desert we are so limited anyway. Such great plants with such special meaning. That makes it all the more special. Hugs, marty

Curtains in My Tree said...

I love your flowers and they remind me of when my grandmother and her sister would walk the yard in the summer and look at Aunt Ollie's beautiful flowers

I found you on Richard's My Old Historic Home

Janice

FABBY'S LIVING said...

I love your flowers, the irises in lilac are just so beautiful! I love the special meaning, best of all. I know you like black, so come on over to see black on a table. Lots of hugs. FABBY

Designs on 47th Street said...

Oh! I do love your flowers. I truly like iris...I love their look and I love their smell and all the colors they come in. My mom still has some from a neighbor she was close to many years ago. Yes, they can remind us of loved ones, etc. I don't think I've ever seen a columbine such as yours! Beautiful!

You have a lovely blog!


Donna

Anonymous said...

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