My garden right now is a riot of roses and irises. Truly, the irises are about done except for some white ones, but the shrub roses are allover the place.
The garden I recall growing up had neither roses nor irises. There was a single yellow climber I remember under one of the living room windows, but it was scraggly and a poor bloomer.
As I remember it, there were irises on the west side of the house when we moved there, but my mother systematically eradicated them - I remember the mass of tubers knotting across the top of the soil like old gnarled fingers, and I remember my mother using a knife, a shovel, a hatchet to get them out. Speaking to her last night, she remembered things a little differently. I'm not sure whose memory to rely on - my mid-40s one, recalling events when I was 7 or 8, or my mother's 75 year old remembering a very busy time in her life, with 5 kids under 10.
In her recollection, there were roses all around the deck, and there were pale yellow irises on the southwest corner and white ones in the front bed on the south facing side of the house. The white ones might have come after I moved out - she said they were from a friend, and gee, she really should have dug them up when she moved. She agreed there had been a scraggly yellow rose under the south window and it didn't last long, though she had no idea what happened to it.
I understand about plant gifts from friends. I have evening primroses, irises ;o), a lilac, and Lady's Mantel, all from friends' gardens. And I have this, my wonderful Seven Sisters climbing rose. It wasn't a gift from a friend, but it has a strong tie to some precious friendships. Several of us got Seven Sisters roses at about the same time; we live many, many miles apart, but for me, anyway, visiting this rose in my garden is pretty darn close to visiting these dear sisters-in-spirit.
My garden right now is a riot of roses and irises. Truly, the irises are about done except for some white ones, but the shrub roses are allover the place.
The garden I recall growing up had neither roses nor irises. There was a single yellow climber I remember under one of the living room windows, but it was scraggly and a poor bloomer.
As I remember it, there were irises on the west side of the house when we moved there, but my mother systematically eradicated them - I remember the mass of tubers knotting across the top of the soil like old gnarled fingers, and I remember my mother using a knife, a shovel, a hatchet to get them out. Speaking to her last night, she remembered things a little differently. I'm not sure whose memory to rely on - my mid-40s one, recalling events when I was 7 or 8, or my mother's 75 year old remembering a very busy time in her life, with 5 kids under 10. 
In her recollection, there were roses all around the deck, and there were pale yellow irises on the southwest corner and white ones in the front bed on the south facing side of the house. The white ones might have come after I moved out - she said they were from a friend, and gee, she really should have dug them up when she moved. She agreed there had been a scraggly yellow rose under the south window and it didn't last long, though she had no idea what happened to it.
I understand about plant gifts from friends. I have evening primroses, irises ;o), a lilac, and Lady's Mantel, all from friends' gardens. And I have this, my wonderful Seven Sisters climbing rose. It wasn't a gift from a friend, but it has a strong tie to some precious friendships. Several of us got Seven Sisters roses at about the same time; we live many, many miles apart, but for me, anyway, visiting this rose in my garden is pretty darn close to visiting these dear sisters-in-spirit.
1 comment:
They are all beautiful - you got some great shots.
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