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Post by binnylou on Mar 3, 2021 11:41:09 GMT -5
Do you have memories from your childhood that have been a stimulus to plant and grow a particular plant?
I remember our neighbor across the street having a beautiful white wooden arbor. That arbor was covered with a purple clematis, and when it bloomed, it was a thing of beauty. The memory of that arbor was my inspiration to plant a clematis. It grows on a cedar lattice attached to the barn. When it blooms, it brings back pleasant memories of the one that grew in the back yard of Mr. and Mrs. DeWitt. Yes, it’s the purple one.
Another neighbor, Mrs. Doud, had an evergreen tree planted in her front yard. She had a short white picket fence that separated her front yard from the sidewalk, and inside the fence was an evergreen tree that was decorated at Christmas. My memory tells me that tree was probably a Blue Spruce. Because of this memory, we planted a Colorado Blue Spruce in our front yard, decorated at Christmas until it became too tall to decorate. The obvious thing to do was plant another Colorado Blue Spruce. By decorating our tree at Christmas, perhaps I’m trying to share with passerby’s, the joy that Mrs. Doud shared with me.
I haven’t started growing red Geraniums yet, but I’ve been thinking about them. They were Aunt Helen’s signature flower.
Reach back in to your childhood memories...what are you growing (or want to grow) because it gives you warm fuzzies from your childhood?
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Mar 3, 2021 13:57:39 GMT -5
binnylou, absolutely! My parents started an amusing tradition of counting morning glories. This began at the first house in which we lived, continued to the house we bought near a lake, and I continued it from then on. For children, it was exciting to see how many morning glories opened up from the previous day. Generally there were around 100 blooming once the flowers became abundant. From that I decided to count the daylilies blooming alongside my house, sometimes reach over 125 in bloom daily. Yesterday I counted the sprouts: 11 so far. First sprouts of the season! Mom also planted poppies (which I haven't yet planted), Sweet William, Dianthus and Carnations. I've planted Carnations, but not yet the other two. It wasn't that often I found seeds in the stores, but I've found what I think are good catalogue sources. Mom also planted impatiens, as did my sister, so they'll be added. Dad liked cleomes, so I added them sometime ago, and I like their airy lightness. One plant that I haven't yet added is a rambling rose. Mom grew them all along a fence about 150' long. They were so delicate, so lovely, and such a reminder of Mom's gardening skills. Great question!
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Post by emmsmommy on Mar 3, 2021 16:52:15 GMT -5
There's so many! My great grandmother had lots of peonies and I loved their sweet smell. There was one in particular that she loved and as kids we made a game out of jumping over it, but never when it was in bloom. Oddly that peony has no scent but is always the first to bloom in the spring. I have two divisions from that plant and even though it doesn't smell, it was Granny's favorite and a favorite of mine as well. She also had several African violets and I always have a few too.
When I first became interested in genealogy, I saw this beautiful old rose in the cemetery where my ggg grandparents are buried. I took a few cuttings and one made it. It only blooms once but has special meaning to me.
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Mar 3, 2021 17:41:31 GMT -5
emmsmommy, your comments on peonies reminded me that I had forgotten to include them in my list of family heirlooms. My maternal grandmother grew peonies, which were brought by my mother to her own garden after Grandma passed. So some of those that I brought here actually have a 3 generation heritage. My maternal aunt and uncle ran a rock garden business. They gave me some plants, including a stunning Japanese fern. Eventually it died, but it's been one of the ferns that I want to get when I recreate a fern and wildflower garden. I also have many volunteer lemon balm plants from one that Mom gave me, plus my very prized collection of trilliums, from 3 that she gave me decades ago. I think of her every time the trilliums bloom. Last year I counted close to 70 blooms!
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Post by datgirl on Mar 3, 2021 18:05:40 GMT -5
I have a lot of my mom's plants too. Peony, Mock Orange ,lilacs but I always plant Zinnia's because of her. She always had them in the flowerbox that was in front of the garage that my dad and his buddies built. She grew more flowers than vegetables. I think Tomato's and Cucumbers were the extent of her veggies. Zinnia's were one of her favorites.
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Post by Mumsey on Mar 3, 2021 19:15:30 GMT -5
My mom loved hollyhocks so I grew them for years. Granny always had African Violets and Christmas Cactus so I grow those too.
Then there is the single marigold DS gave me on Mother’s Day when he was in 4th grade. It’s seeds are saved every year and planted.
There’s rhubarb, which dad grew and continues to grow to the tune of 400 hills and I’ve grown to not be a fan of it, unless it’s in wine. Lol. And gooseberries. Ick. He would never plant a flower because he said you can’t eat them.
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Post by lilolpeapicker on Mar 3, 2021 20:06:50 GMT -5
My mother had a pink abutilon that I absolutely loved, beautiful dainty bell shaped flowers. She grew it on an enclosed porch in the summertime. I have had several and sometimes I would put it outside and one season a hummingbird came to it for a drink!! I was tickled! I am aiming to do that again this year. I wonder if Logee's is still in business. Yep I checked them out. Think I will go do some shopping.
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Post by armjr on Mar 3, 2021 20:46:50 GMT -5
Tomatos. My dad liked to grow tomatoes. One year when I was about 13 the vines would not set fruit. He announced one afternoon that he was going to whip them. Well, when daddy started whipping things he often made it worth the effort so the level of concern was a bit elevated from that point. Anyway, he went out and got the garden hose and began flailing the tomato plants. My sisters and I were sure that he had flipped his wig. But with the air heavy with the smell of tomato vine pulp he came inside and had supper and the rest of the evening was without incident.... and with good reason....
Those tomatoes set fruit like nobody's business. Bumper crop. Couldn't eat them fast enough or give them away. He later told me that one year when he was growing up they had had a hailstorm and it had beat the vines almost to the ground. They put on a bumper crop then too.
One year about ten or so years back we had a hailstorm and it beat the tomatoes up pretty good. #1 wife was distraught. My memory banks kicked in and I told here to get her canning jars ready. Sure enough, we had tons of tomatoes that year.
I've never worked up the nerve to whip them when they didn't set fruit. I love tomatoes.
Alan
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Post by gardendmpls on Mar 3, 2021 22:32:40 GMT -5
First bed I remember weeding was a border of ageratums, so I've started growing those. Most of the plants in my native coastal South Texas were tropical and won't grow here. Mom had what we would consider house plants, like that little rubber tree, that were outside and taller than the house. She had a lot of beautiful tea roses, so I plant a few fragrant roses every year. Other than that, vegetables are what I remember.
Funny thing, as a kid I liked to try transplanting wildflowers. We had some pink evening primroses growing wild in the yard. Used to pick a few and suck out the sweet nectar. About 10-15 years ago, I started to see them in everyone's yard here in New York. It appears that someone in the nursery business decided they would be a good seller and developed them for sale. They became very popular (Oenothera speciosa) and can be found in a lot of seed catalogs and nurseries.
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Post by desertwoman on Mar 4, 2021 0:17:38 GMT -5
Roses! Mom loved her roses and had quite a collection. She also love morning glories. When she downsized and moved into a townhouse the only plants she grew were on her balcony and it was one rose bush in a half wine barrel and some morning glories on the railing. I grow both of these plants in her memory.
Geraniums are another childhood memory. They grew outdoors in the soil in So. California. One of my first gardening experiences (elementary school age) was breaking off a piece of geranium from a plant in the garden and rooting it. I did this many times and gave them away.I'm still starting plants (or dividing) from my gardens and giving them away!
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Post by emmsmommy on Mar 4, 2021 7:50:00 GMT -5
I forgot about the irises. My grandmother and great great grandmother both loved them. When my older cousin got his drivers license I got his lawn mowing job at my great grandparents house. I always mowed around the iris bed until Granny would come out, take the mower and hack them off. Of course it was a bit of a ritual with her about mowing a swipe or two every time, and I think it was just to let herself know she still could. Honestly I don't remember the color of any of those iris but assume the divisions of the ones I took from grandma's include them.
Asparagus brings back memories of the same place and honestly I started growing it for the ferny foliage and gave mom the spears for the longest time. Granny's clump was massive and grew by the fence. As kids we played badminton or volleyball using that fence as our net and would always turn around and look at the porch when the ball landed in the middle of the asparagus, but Granny always smiled and never scolded us.
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Post by reuben on Mar 4, 2021 12:16:30 GMT -5
First bed I remember weeding was a border of ageratums, so I've started growing those. At least one of my parents called them aggravatums, although that may have come from my paternal grandfather or paternal aunt.
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Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Mar 4, 2021 13:03:00 GMT -5
This thread is raising so many memories of plants that Mom and Dad grew that I'd forgotten about over the years. Scarlet Quince was another. Mom loved that lovely flowering shrub.
I'm afraid to open garden catalogues for the next few days b/c I would be so tempted to buy much more than I had planned, recreating a garden of which I have such fond memories. But a family history garden would be a nice addition.
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Post by breezygardener on Mar 4, 2021 13:28:01 GMT -5
I come from a farming family. Both my uncle & great-uncle grew vegetables for the local supermarkets on Long Island, NY, before mass transit became a thing. I loved visiting them & helping to pick the produce, feed the chickens, etc. Life was a lot different back then.
Obviously my dad had a huge garden, & I still remember picking & eating tomatoes & green beans right off the vine - thus those are both two veggies that I'll always grow. He also loved & grew Gooseberries, but I can't grow them here because they're host to a disease that affects White pines, & our property is full of them, so I don't want to take a chance.
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Post by Wheelgarden on Mar 4, 2021 14:45:30 GMT -5
Dad's beans and tomatoes, and Mom's flowers. They worked and built that rocky, cherty plot into deep, dark, rich soil. I remember us out every day, filling the wheeelbarrow with rocks. Then there was My Uncle and Aunt's dairy/corn/tobacco/everything else farm. He announced one afternoon that he was going to whip them. I've heard of doing that with rolled-up newspaper. It was called, "spanking".
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