Saturday, April 7, 2012

Day #543 Grandma's Irises and a Climbing Rose

Wanted to share with you some of what’s going on in my yard.
Last year I planted a climbing rose and thought I’d have a couple of years before I needed to build a trellis for it to climb on. Not so. Many of the shoots are eight feet long, drooping into the narrow walkway that goes around that side of the house.
A couple of days ago I walked out the front door and just happened to look to my left. This is what I saw, one lonely but BRIGHT bloomL

 Up closer, it looks like this:


















Then there are my grandmother’s irises. I think I’ve mentioned before that she had an iris garden on the farm in Corinth, Mississippi. 


When she died forty years ago, my Aunt Mary dug up half of the irises and transplanted them into her own garden, where they grew with abandon. 

Every time Aunt Mary moved, she’d dig up half the irises and take them along with her.
I visited her in Tennessee a dozen years ago and brought back two big boxes of them. When I moved to this house--well, you get the idea.

The point to all this is that in each of these moves, there were irises left behind that then continued to multiply. My grandmother’s irises have populated dozens of garden over the years -- and I’m sure they’re still going strong.
Tomorrow I’ll show you some of the other flowers I’ve carried along with me from one house to another.
BEEattitude for Day #543:
       Blessed are those who plant gardens wherever they go, for their work shall be revered by future homeowners and by us bees, too! 
_______________________________ 
The teeny details:
my books:  http://www.franstewart.com Please buy them from an independent bookstore or directly from my website.

4 comments:

Megan said...

Hi Fran,
Just catching up with your great blog again and once more am surprised at the similarities in people's lives.Out in the garden this morning wondering if I could dig up some irises my friend brought back 3 years ago from Bulgaria/was yesterday re-reading your sister's book which I bought last year when I felt down again/have now realised it is the anniversary almost to the day when I had to go to the gynae doc.
Now I will dig up the irises ready to take to Wales with us when we move there but won't let myself begin your Iris book till I have done that chore(just finished re-reading the others!)/your sister's book helped me understand some things better and keep things in proportion and since I am a stitcher and knitter,it was more relevant-my counsellor who I still go to occasionally was also impressed by it/the gynae thing shook me up a bit but the doctors and nurses were amazingly knowledgeable and kind as you said and sorted out the problem and hey! here I am a year on and had almost forgotten it. Good luck and have a blessed and Happy Easter. I will be spending Easter Sunday digging and reading a book with maybe just a little teeny bit of chocolate!

Fran Stewart said...

Megan, thank you so much for taking the time to update me on what's going on with you.

Yes, I love it when lives seem to connect, even though we're on opposite sides of the Atlantic.

Good luck with your move. I hope it goes smoothy.

Rose said...

Thant rose looks really lonely but she's really gorgeous! Thank you for the wonderful word...it's right what I needed right now!

Fran Stewart said...

Rose, I'm so glad I touched on something you needed. A few days after I took that picture, there were blooms everywhere. I guess this first one was just in a hurry to say hello to us.

By the way, the petals seldom go to waste. I bring them inside as a special treat for Miss Polly, the only cat I've ever had who loves to eat rose petals.