Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Round the Garden

Whenever I used to visit my parents at their country home during the growing seasons, I would be invited to "take a walk round the garden".  I'll admit there were many times I'd rather not (especially during blackfly season), but Mom loved to show me her plants and tell me how each of them were doing and how this one had revived etc etc.  Of course now I miss those walks, as Mom passed away two years ago.
 
Last spring my sisters and I had to sell the house in town that my parents lived in for such a brief time.  I really hated that house, but Mom had moved as many plants as she could into her new backyard and we decided to dig them all up and transplant them into our own gardens.  I'm so glad we did.  Now I'll ask you if you'd like to take a walk round the garden with me :) 

This little plant is a surprise.  It's some sort of bluebell flower that I was thrilled to see in Mom's garden, but when I transplanted it last spring it promptly died ... or so I thought!  Here it is back again, and I can see the little tiny blue buds tucked in the green folds at the bottom right.  I love blue flowers, so I was happy to have it back and looking good.

 
Mom's redbud bush is not looking so good, however, with only a few buds along bare branches.  I hope it comes back because she really loved it, and it looked so good all last summer.
 
 
This is a hardy red or black currant bush that Mom had shoved in the ground on a rather shady side of the house.  I found it by accident, and couldn't leave it there to die, so it came home with me too.  I really hope it's a currant bush and not a gooseberry bush.  Mom gave me a gooseberry bush a few years ago (but she thought it was black currant as she knew I loved black currant jam).  But when it finally produced some berries I was so disappointed that they were gooseberries (yuck).
 
 
Mom had beautiful huge iris gardens running alongside their very long driveway for many, many years.  She took into town what she could, and I took from her house what I could, and they all seem to have come back this spring.  Not one of them flowered last year, so I hope they do better this year.  I may not have them in the best location as they get too much shade here later in the summer, but I'll see what I can sort out for them as I really love them.
 
 
And this little plant is called a Lenten Rose (although I wonder if it's technically a heliotrope).  I gave it to Mom a long time ago and she had it planted in her woodland garden just at the edge of their woods.  She would always remark to me when it had flowered as it was one of the first flowers of spring.  Now I have it in my backyard and it seems to be happy where it is since it came back after such a long hard winter.
 

 
And of course there are the lilac bushes, which were a perennial favourite.  I'm not sure which colour this lilac is, but I brought two back from her place and I know they were originally from the country home, so they mean a lot to me.
 
 
Today we had such a warm day ... close to summertime weather!  I'm relieved that most of the plants I brought back from Mom's place have made it through the winter, and a few more days like today may just bring them right back into bloom which would make me so very, very happy!
 
Thanks for stopping by!
 
Wendy
 
 
 
 
 

21 comments:

  1. Oh Wendy!!! I love them all!! Isn't it so exciting to see them all come to life and what a bonus that they were loved by your mom!!! We too have had some warm weather...I need to get the camera out! You take care and enjoy your beautiful garden!!! Nicole xoxo

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    1. I do love to see them come back again ... like a visit from Mom ;)

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  2. Isn't it amazing how plants survive all that harsh winters throw at them and gloriously bloom when the time is right?
    How fantastic that you have transplanted your mum's nurtured plants and enjoy them in your own well tended garden...along with all the memories they bring.
    Ali x

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    1. Yes, I'm amazed they survived the heaps of snow on them this year. Now that they're doing well, I have to rearrange things to get them in better locations. Once the trees and bushes leaf out all my sunny spots diminish.

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  3. ~ Wendy YOU have spring time here on your pictures......Happy 1st May, my friend...~ Another thing we have in common apart from our hand me down plants from our Mum's......Is the dates too...(2 years) Your Mum's plants are doing her very proud...I have Mum's lily of the Valley coming through and I can still picture her saying..." Take a cutting Love"....I know you love it! I sat out yesterday and I would say it was the warmest day we have had so far....YIPPEEE....Thanks for kind words always...Maria x

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    1. Funny how we can hear our mom's voices whenever we look at the plants. I hear my mom saying "Oh Wendy, the lenten rose it out!". Every year without fail she told me when it had bloomed. And Lily of the Valley with its beautiful scent must bring back memories twice as strong for you Maria. Thank you for your heartfelt messages ;) Two years seems like yesterday doesn't it? Have a lovely May 1st ... I believe we're going to see another warm day here ... a bit of knitting on the patio is in store for me :) ... take care xox

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  4. I enjoyed very much the walk around your garden, Wendy :) Everything seems to be growing nicely, and there is so much flowering to look forward to.
    How lovely that you have transplanted your mums flowers into your garden!
    Have a happy 1st May :)

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    1. Thank you Hilde, as you can see in the photos, there's a lot of clean up needing to be done. To be honest I've enjoyed watching the birds pick up all the loose dried stalks etc from the garden beds and flying them up to their nests. But I think most of them have finished that job now, so I must get going on mine. Happy May 1st to you too! Warm day ahead for us again ... happy happy!

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  5. Hey Wendy, I'm always up for a stroll around the garden and I can remember my mum asking me the same thing whenever I visited her.
    So nice to have some of your mum's favourite plants in your garden.
    Living memories.....
    I just Lilacs and I do hope you have a Currant bush not a gooseberry.
    Nice to be getting some warm temps at long last. Enjoy them and the budding plants.

    Claire :}

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    1. One day I'm going to be asking MY kids the same question and forcing the plants on them. It took me many years to finally start accepting Mom's plants because to be honest I was never that much into gardening when I was younger. I got too discouraged when the dog dug up the garden, rabbits chewed the plants, the kids ran in the garden, and my husband cleared everything out of the garden in the spring (not caring if there were perennials still to come up!). Now with a new (non-digging) dog, older kids and severely warned husband, I'm having better success. Have a wonderful May 1st Claire!

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  6. Thank you Wendy such a lovely walk around the garden and a wonderful way to remember your mom ... Sarah x

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Sarah, I'm glad you enjoyed the tour ;) I think having a garden of memories is a good thing too.

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  7. What a lovely way to remember your mum ... I love the little lenten rose ... so pretty ... Bee xx

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    1. Thanks Bee, I've been surprised myself at how much these plants mean to me this year ;) Have a great day!

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  8. Hi Wendy, I just found your blog and I'm really enjoying it. Your knitting is really nice; I'm a crocheter and would love to learn knitting soon. I'm your newest follower and looking forward to reading more. :)

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    1. Hi Jennifer, I'm so glad you are enjoying my blog! Thank you for joining along :) I've been admiring crochet and meaning to learn that, but I'm having so much fun knitting new projects that I'm not sure it's going to happen anytime soon. Have a great day!

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  9. Isn't it wonderful to have 'family' plants. My garden is covered in violets that came from my Grandma's house. They are like ground cover in the spring. I just let them run wild. Don't give up on the rose bush, sometimes they don't like to be moved and will pout for a year or so. You might want to cut it back a bit, that often helps. I love the Lenten rose. But we are a bit too north for hellebore (heliotrope are different). And of course, who doesn't love lilacs. Lilacs, violets, bluebells and lily of the valley are my favourites.

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    1. Hi Paula, thank you for your lovely comment and your advice. Your last list of flowers are all favourites of mine as well ... I guess it's the spring flowers that make us so happy after a long winter :) Enjoy your day!

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  10. I love that you have so many of your mom's plant. I am very sentimental about my plants as well. But I have to remember that I am one of the best flowers that my family grew and my kids too. Have a lovely day, Wendy!

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    1. I forgot to tell you that I think if you plant your irises in full sun, they will probably do great. I have a ton of irises and I divided and transplanted a few of them about a year ago and they were blooming like they were ten years old last spring. So I went from liking irises to really loving them! Any flower that will produce free plants for me is a winner!

      Thanks for your advice yesterday. I would love to move to wine country but one of the big reasons I love it there is because my parents live there. I just found out they are moving pretty far away. So I am going to shoot for my next dream, moving to the Oregon Coast.

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    2. Thanks for that tip on the iris! I've also been told to split the iris every year in August so that the plant stays large. If you don't split them every year, they start to get smaller and smaller. I have to move the iris, but all my gardens seem to get too much shade from bushes. Maybe I need to dig another garden ... ugh!

      Glad to help with your dilemma, hope it helped a bit. I'm sorry to hear your parents are moving far away. My in-laws decided to move 4 hours from us shortly after we had our first child. My husband especially felt very much hurt by that, and sadly they never were close to their grandchildren because of it. The Oregon coast sounds amazing (my brother is in Victoria, so similar scenery) ... and the people sound very laid back and nice :) Things will work out I'm sure, they always do. Have a great weekend Stacy!

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