After the Jonquils came into full bloom one early Spring, I remember my Granny standing on the porch. Her big pocket apron on. Her favorite one that went around the neck and tied in the back at the waist…Holding a cloth handkerchief in her hand and with the other hand holding on to the porch column, she shouted to my Mom, who was in the yard inspecting the Spring flowers…”Those “white pinies” (peonies) will soon be bloomin’! You’d better dig you up a bunch of ’em and take to Tennessee for they shore need divid’in!”
Mom didn’t dig any up until early Fall for she knew that they would transplant better….
—B.Ruth, April 2015
I love the image of B.Ruth’s granny standing on the porch in her apron generously willing to share her beautiful peonies.
Many of my flowers were given to me by family and friends. When I look at the blooms I often think of the dear sweet ladies who shared with me, some of them long since gone from this ole world.
I have several day lilies growing in a flower bed I quit tending to several years ago. The lilies, along with several daffodils, just keep growing and blooming even though they’ve been neglected.
The bed runs alongside the shed we are building so if they are to live they must be moved. I aim to share most of them with Chatter. She will be the third generation of our family to care for the day lilies and I have no doubt that she will do a better job than I have in recent years.
Last night’s video: Planting Granny’s Potatoes, Starting a New Strawberry Bed & Replacing Blackberries.
Tipper
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Love these stories about the family heirloom flowers. They bring such a special beauty and warmth to the garden. My mom would sometimes stealthily snip a cutting from public places when she saw a plant that caught her eye and take it home in her purse. In her later years our entire back fence was covered with what we referred to as “Junior College Ivy” which she’d collected from a local school. I’ve made sure to tell my daughter exactly where our favorite Sweet Lena irises are located so she’ll be able to keep some going later on. She bought the bulbs from the Lena’s son several decades ago when he was selling them from his garden and brought them home for me to plant. Such an amazing fragrance.
My flowers are the thing I miss most about our house we moved from a few years ago. We lived there 27 years and had established all sorts of flowers and flowering shrubs from family and friends. I did manage to save some seeds to start at our new place halfway across the country. But I sure do miss the people who shared them with me originally.
I’m sure Corie will appreciate the flowers and take good care of them. what a wonderful thing to pass along.
Hey Randy, look at yesterdays post, I sent you a message!!
Running a little late this morning!!
🙂
To my comment about Chatter’s yellow bells. I remember her saying her cousin Mark put those there which is Steve and Kim’s son. That’s really special!
My niece has peonies in her yard that were my grandmother’s. So now five generations, counting her children, have enjoyed the blooms! They always bloom around Memorial Day here in south central Pennsylvania,
I remember the women in my family always sharing flowers with one another and although they are long gone, the flowers are still blooming. I love the fact that you will share your day lilies with Chatter. That will be such a sweet memory for her. I saw her yellow bells blooming last night on her video and they were stunning! I wonder if Granny may have given some cuttings to Steve and Kim when they lived there or if they were already on the property. So pretty!
Those day lillies are gorgeous! I think it’s wonderful that Chatter is now going to be getting 3rd generation Lillies so she will always have flowers from the family which is terrific. I planted seed yesterday and today will work on heated mats and lights for them. I planted blooming forsythia thinking what your mama said and hoping for the best here… lol I guess we will see how it goes. Have a delightful day everybody! Thank goodness for another spring day!
It is just breathtakingly beautiful this spring in SC PA. My dogwood is budding out, red buds are showing out as well as Yellow Bells, daffodils, hyacinths, bleeding hearts are up about ready to bloom, and peonies are shooting up. You can’t drive down the road without saying Thank You Lord for all the beauty you are displaying! I mean it is awesome!! I have always shared cuttings and bulbs, and been given them from family and friends. Plants given from family and dear friends really do have a special place in my heart as you think of them and actually the day they shared with you.
Tipper you and Matt are so blessed as you work as a team, helping each other. God bless ya all, praying you have a great week.
You’ve inspired me that I need to plant bulbs this fall. We are having a fence replaced next month so not much I can do in that flowerbed right now. I sure hope they don’t damage the new Hostas we planted last year.
Mommy called them peony roses! I’ve never heard them called “pinies”.
Day lilies come by their name honestly. Like chicory, A bloom only lasts a day. There are a great many more colors also than most people ever see. We have some of the standard orange but they are not happy enough to bloom well. Did you know some people batter fry the bloom and eat them. Never tried it but they are reported to be good. And plants with a history start out being special and just get better.
Ron, I’ve never tried eating them, but like you I’ve heard about it 🙂
I have never heard of eating day lilies, but my hubby’s grandma used to batter fry pumpkin blooms.
The fact that the daffodils and day lilies keep coming back even though neglected proves what you’ve said about plants wanting to grow.
Those lilies can survive just about anything can’t they? I have many flowers that came from my mom and mother in law. I’ve never thought of the fact that I may one day be passing some on to my girls. What a sweet legacy!
I mentioned my mother and her flowers a day or two ago, she and some of her friends were always exchanging “cuttings” and dividing their flowers with one another. The mentioned of the white peony brings back memories of my maternal Grandmother. She had a yard full of flowers too, one of them being a white peony that is still in my yard and planted in the same spot she planted it. I don’t know how old it is, but the flower has been here all of my life (71 years) and is now about ready to bloom. I will have to cover it up one morning next week, frost is predicted that morning. Grandmother was serious about her flowers, when I was a kid she would tell me “I will wear your butt out if you mess with the blooms on my peony.” That was not a threat, it was a promise! My Daddy liked to laugh and tell about her catching him and his brother in law sitting on the front porch having a shooting contest with his 22 rifle cutting/shooting flowers off of one her rose bushes, he said she was about to take the rifle away and use it on them. They often had friendly shooting contest with one another, they both were expert marksman. They would often sit up a row of “ stove wood matches” and shoot the stems into.