Linnie Tanner
It speaks to my heart
this beauty that I see
a very special lady
and a dahlia memory
A garden so grand
pretty dahlias in a row
she planted them there
her favorite one to grow
A vision of spring time
so enchanted and divine
she and her dahlias
were a showcase design
In the summer they stood
so patient, proud and tall
waiting for a bouquet
a lovely gesture of fall
A centerpiece on my table
I can smell them still
the fragrant blossoms linger
in the air so real
This beautiful dahlia memory
of my mother I dwell
in heaven there are dahlias
and she’s doing quite well
—In memory of my mother, Linne Tanner, 1927-1997 – Echoes of Time written by Susie Swanson
Susie was a dear family friend. I’m so glad she published her book of poetry. The poems are especially heartwarming to me because I know they happened just over the mountain.
I had an great aunt who grew dahlias. She would plant a row right in the garden with everything else. The flowers were so pretty! Each fall she dug up the tubers and then replanted them come spring of the year.
I grew dahlias for the first time last year. I started them from seed. I hope to grow more this year.
Last night’s video: The Family History and Stories of Opal Corn Myers 14.
Tipper
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Not sure why my Comment disappeared from the list.
Linnie K, I still see your comment about your mother’s high school teacher’s name. It’s just below Wanda’s and just above Gloria’s. Let me know if you see it now. I’ve been having trouble with people seeing comments. Sorry for the trouble 🙂
I’ve never grown dahlias but maybe I should try. I just wanted to say what beautiful and heartwarming comments everyone always has. I enjoy and learn from the comments as much as your wonderful content. The poem was beautiful and a joy to read. It’s been awhile since I have read a good poem and this one made me smile.
A beautiful poem and memories.
So beautiful in every way !!!
My grandfather always grew awesome dahlias—he put them everywhere in their yard. They were in the vegetable garden scattered all about on each row, alongside one full end of the house and there were several dedicated beds along the edge of his yard for just dahlias. When I was in my twenties, he tave me several tubers and I planted some that grew almost as tall as the house. I remember staking them so they wouldn’t fall over. My grandfather had quite a number of peck baskets in his basement where he stored the tubers after he dug them up at the end of summer—he also built a special rack in his basement to store his dahlia stakes—one entire corner of his basement was dedicated to his collection of dahlia tubers. He was known far and wide for growing beautiful dahlias.
Very rarely do I ever see my name shared with someone else. My mother’s high school English teacher’s name was Linnie and that is how I ended up with it. It’s always such a fun thing when I discover a new one.
Growing up in southwest Louisiana I spent many hours enjoying the flower gardens of my grandmother who lived next door. Although no dahlias were there, day lilies of every color, rose moss, camellias and four o’clocks fill my memories.
This lovely poem takes me back to those days.
What a wonderful poem and beautiful memory!! Thank you, Tipper for sharing it with us.
Yes, I need to be more intentional about planting flowers among the vegetables. I suspect it says something not altogether good that in 30+ years of gardening it has been just vegetables up to the past 2-3 years. Having any flowers would be a good reminder that life isn’t just about necessities. I’ve never grown dahlias. Sounds like I should start.
Ron, don’t feel like the Lone Ranger, my family never planted flowers in our garden and I don’t remember seeing any of my neighbor’s gardens having flowers planted in them. The closest we ever came to flowers were morning glories. Our garden was not very close to our house.
Dahlia taters are edible. Plant some and find joy both above and below the surface.
I don’t think there is a flower I do not like – guess I learned that from my mama as she grew every flower she could that would grow in our area. I love all wild flowers too.
Your friend Susie must have been a very talented lady as she found words to describe her mother and her favorite flower in a beautiful poem. My mom called them dallies, better known as dinner plate dallies around our house. My ex-husband has always thought that everyone who went to Heaven was assigned a specific job, and he did not doubt that mom would spend an eternity in God’s flower garden.
I enjoyed the poem about dahlias which are majestic and beautiful. When I moved here to this house in south central Virginia almost ten years ago from Charlottesville, I found a packet of dahlia seeds at Walmart and bought them. The house was new and had no plantings around it and looked so bare. I planted the seeds in the area in front of the porch and then transplanted them all around there. In a couple of months there were pink, yellow, red, and other mixed colors of dahlias about a foot tall growing all over. I would sit on the porch with coffee in the morning just enjoying them. The bees and hummingbirds also enjoyed them. I dreaded to see the time when winter would take them away but was I surprised. They bloomed again the next summer and have bloomed every summer since without digging them up. That’s been almost ten years ago. Also, they grew taller and a lot of them were three feet tall with gorgeous colored flowers. In Ohio where I grew up, they would not have lived thru the harsh winters. You had to dig them up and store them inside. In the spring of 1982 in Ohio, I planted some dahlia seeds indoors and spent hours one night transplanting them in foam cups. Later I planted them around my patio, and I had a bountiful harvest of beautiful dahlias. I lived in eastern Ky the first four- and one-half years of my life before moving to northeastern Ohio and I remember a few things about my Mamaw. She loved dahlias and grew some of the largest flowers I have ever seen. She planted them on the side of the house, just as Melanie mentioned about her Mamaw. I remember walking among them and flower heads towering about me. I probably was three or four years old. I just saw my first hummingbird and am looking forward to sitting on the porch and enjoying the dahlias along with them and the bees.
Beautiful memory written into a poem. Thank you, Tipper for sharing your dear friend Susie’s poem.
Beautiful! I just bought some to plant for the very first time. this post has made me happy I did
My mama’s flower gardens at our home place were always full of zinnias, asters, marigolds, mums and roses. The yard had apple trees, pear trees and Rose of Sharons. She took as much care of those as she and dad did their vegetable garden. She has a little deck at the back door of her apartment now, and I was thinking maybe we could buy (or hubby could make) her a couple planters to hang over the railing where she could grow a few tomatoes and flowers. I think it will be a wonderful surprise for Mother’s Day. I used to only care about vegetables—but as I get older, I am enjoying my flowers more and more—just like Mama.
My mamaw grew dahlias at each end of the “side” garden, not to be confused with the “back” garden that was probably twice as big. (Dimensions are tricky to a 64 yr old trying to remember through her 6, 7, or 8 yr old eyes.) The one at the side of the house could be seen from the road and people would pull in the driveway to ask about her dahlias. Some were taller than us kids and had a bloom “as big as a dinner plate.” I recall people describing them that way. My favorites were red and white striped. The big garden behind the house was strictly for food but that side garden allowed Mamaw to show off just a little.
Dahlias are a lovely addition to a garden. As I’ve said in the past, the beauty of flowers help to nourish the soul as food crops nourish the body.
My mother too grew dahlias (dallies to her). She too dug them in the fall and stored them away. At that stage they were “dally taters” and you’d better leave them alone.
Oh, what a fine thing it is to honor family and friends. Because they shared of themselves, their likes, their LOVES, and yes, their challenges, we are able to glean the bits and pieces and enjoy them as they did. My Mom loved zinnias; those little button ones were her favorites. Many years ago I started asking for one of each color as they “turned to seed.” I am planting those offspring still. And what a joy to see God’s extras; what He gave us to enjoy that are not essential to survival; not “just” air and water and groceries. He knew that Mom would like zinnias, and I would have them now to enjoy and reflect. You all are precious.
A great uncle of mine was the best gardener I ever knew. He also grew dahlias that were spectacular. His gardening skills were only surpassed by his kindness.