What a joy to find these blooms had opened for the first time today! The bulbs have been handed down to me from my friend, Helen, who went to lunch with us. She originally received the bulbs from another very special lady who was a member of our alum group 40 years ago. We like to think we'll be remembered long after we're gone, and here are Juanita's iris now in my garden as though she's here with us!
That's one of the wonderful things about flowers in the garden. They constantly remind us of friends and family - for various different reasons. I have just planted some Nyrène bulbs here in France, as they remind me of a friend in Scotland and our former home there. I have a lace hydrangea in Scotland which a different friend gave me when my mum died - so I think of my mum and my friend when I look at it.
Lovely shot Louise, and what a lovely colour of Iris. Ours here are dark purple.
How beautiful Louise! I had a lovely garden in my house in Surrey which was full of shrubs my Parents bought me over the years. It was a lovely Spring garden with camelias and rhododendrons - lots of different colours. Sadly when I moved to the East Midlands I could not bring the shrubs or even cuttings with me as the soil is different and those plants do not grow here! So what I have done is fill my garden with hydrangeas which my dad used to grow in our garden when I was young. Lovely memories!
What a beautiful colour. I have some large white irises in my garden that were given to me and planted by my Gran. She had them in her garden for many, many years. She died 8 years ago at the age of 93 but I'm constantly reminded for her by the things she passed on to me from her garden. She often oversaw the planting and early care just to be sure things survived my gardening techniques at the time!
Such a beautiful and meaningful Easter surprise! It is so wonderful how blooming flowers in our yard or garden bring back memories of special friends and loved ones. Here in San Antonio, so many of the flowers that bloom in our yard were planted by my mother 40 years ago when she and my father first bought the house and property. They are both gone now so the beautiful blooms keep them ever present in my heart. At the cottage in Canada, several of the plants that bloom every year in the garden were originally planted by my husband's grandmother eighty years ago! Isn't that amazing? I especially love the peonies she planted. Beautiful pink blooms! I will definitely post photos of those flowers while we're there.
@koalagardens Thank you for the fave...I, too, love seeing flowers in bloom! @pamknowler I had no idea when I posted this how so many others like you would harken to their own garden memories! This is my first hand-me-down bulb, and I was moved to discover how that first bloom toughed my memories! @bkbinthecity Thank you Brian! @thirdjoe We had a lovely Easter, Joe. Must drop over to see how you spent yours! @allie912 Allie, Juanita was quite elderly even when we met 40+ years ago. I knew she was passing along iris to friends of mine, and so it's how, when my friend, Helen's bed was overgrown, she passed some on to me. They're probably several generations along, but lovely as ever! @janm I love reading about the memories that your garden holds! My grandmother lived in a very small town but was a member of a Garden Club, winning awards for her beautiful floral presentations! I loved playing in her gardens that were even laid out with paths; so may good memories of times spent there! @gaylewood While it's unlikely either of our girls will come to live in out home someday, Ashley, up the coast, has taken cutting of plumeria from our yard and it's growing beautifully in hers! It pleases us that she takes such pleasure in gardening as well, perhaps building her own memories! @ziggy77 Thank you, Jo!
Lovely shot Louise, and what a lovely colour of Iris. Ours here are dark purple.
@pamknowler I had no idea when I posted this how so many others like you would harken to their own garden memories! This is my first hand-me-down bulb, and I was moved to discover how that first bloom toughed my memories!
@bkbinthecity Thank you Brian!
@thirdjoe We had a lovely Easter, Joe. Must drop over to see how you spent yours!
@allie912 Allie, Juanita was quite elderly even when we met 40+ years ago. I knew she was passing along iris to friends of mine, and so it's how, when my friend, Helen's bed was overgrown, she passed some on to me. They're probably several generations along, but lovely as ever!
@janm I love reading about the memories that your garden holds! My grandmother lived in a very small town but was a member of a Garden Club, winning awards for her beautiful floral presentations! I loved playing in her gardens that were even laid out with paths; so may good memories of times spent there!
@gaylewood While it's unlikely either of our girls will come to live in out home someday, Ashley, up the coast, has taken cutting of plumeria from our yard and it's growing beautifully in hers! It pleases us that she takes such pleasure in gardening as well, perhaps building her own memories!
@ziggy77 Thank you, Jo!