Grandmother's Flower Garden

Glinda writes:

This summer, I plan to create what I am calling "Grandmother's Flower Garden" in front of our new home on Butterfly Hill Farm. My humble plantings will be in tribute to the female family members from those generations before me. That would include: Mother-Dorothy Bloskovich, Great Aunt Lula Myers Hart, Grandma Dora Budiselich Bloskovich, Grandma Lottie Hart Brenz, Aunt Louise Brenz Wells Glassburner, Aunt Ruth Irene Brenz Griffin, Aunt Mary Bloskovich Bryson, Great Aunt Della Brenz, Great Aunt Clara Brenz Wiles, all those family members I have not known who would have planted flowers before me (including Great Grandmother Matilda Waibel Brenz, Great Grandmother Louisa South Hart), and older women who were not family members but have had an influence on my life, like Richard's Mother Ethel Crawford.

When I think of these ladies, I think of many things, but one of my favorites is flowers. While these ladies worked very hard and seriously at their varied roles of homemaker, Mother and for some wage-earner, they took time to plant flowers sometimes out front and other times in little corners of their yards. Some planted flowers more than others. They planted the old robust flowers, not those new fangled, eye-jarring, sometimes bizarre varieties of our modern world. The ladies greeted guests with their flowers when they arrived. They sometimes cut flowers, put them into vases, tucked them into corners of their homes or took them to family and friends.

I have been poking around in those somewhat dusty, "long time since I have visited" corners of my memory to remember the flowers they would likely have. I have also been talking with Mother to see what she remembers. She has called her sister (my Aunt Ruthie) who lives in Oregon. I am watching this list emerge as if it were flowers sprouting in the writing of this little post on our blog. So far, these are the plants I plan for "Grandmother's Garden," and these are some of the memories that come as their beautiful petals unfold.

• Gladiolas: When we were dating, Richard used to bring me "Glads" from his Mother's garden. I just found out in the last few days that he didn't always ask. His Mother's beautiful flowers must have come with an open invitation to sharing.
• Roses: My Mom has always gathered beautiful bouquets of roses for her house. When we arrived home after a long journey from North Dakota, she would put them on the bedstead in our room. When I was a child in the 1950s, I remember Mother had Paul Scarlet Roses, vigorous climbing roses on a white trellis Dad had built for the backyard. My Croatian Grandmother Dora loved roses. When she and Aunt Ann lived in southern California in the late 50s, my elderly Grandmother was simply thrilled with all the flowers, which she no longer could grow. Sometimes, she would head to the neighbor's to pick a rose or two. The family was a little concerned. The neighbor was not, and simply smiled. My Grandmother could have all she wanted.
• Hollyhocks: "We always had hollyhocks," Mother says about her childhood. Aunt Louise had Hollyhocks on their farm. When I was a little girl, I remember looking up to those tall flowers which seemed to extend to the sky. I also remember learning to make sweet little dolls from them. Was it with Aunt Louise?
• Phlox: Mother's Daddy (Fred Brenz) loved Phlox.
• Geraniums: Mother said that Geraniums were a favorite of her family when she was growing up. They were red. Her Daddy planted Geraniums in a planter on each side of the sidewalk, just before you came into the house. Her Daddy loved all growing things.
• Peonies: Oh, how I loved Peonies. In rural northeast Missouri, they were called many different names: PI-nees, PEE-ah-nees, PEE-OH-nees. I remember going to Aunt Della's where the cement walk had a dark red Peony on either side. Mother especially liked the dark red ones. Peonies always bloomed around Memorial Day so they were standards whenever we would decorate graves.
• Cosmos: We don't remember much here, except the old-timers had Cosmos.
• Sweet Peas: Mother remembers her Dad loved Sweet Peas. He always planted them in a row and they were tall.
• Daisies: Mother doesn't remember much about Daisies. I remember the song "Daisy, Daisy, Give me your answer do. I'm half crazy, all for the love of you." We would sing it loudly and proudly in elementary school. I also remember the game we were taught as we picked off the petals one by one: "He loves me. He loves me not."
• Columbines: My Mother has some growing on the south side of the house. For Mother's Day last year, Dad had picked for Mother a beautiful bouquet of Columbines, Roses, and anything else he could find growing around the yard. Mother had been very sick in April so Mother's Day was even more special than usual. It was very beautiful to see this lovely bouquet Dad had picked. My 89 year old Papa passed about 2 months later.
• Snapdragons: I remember being fascinated with the opening and closing motion of the flower when I pressed it with my fingers. It was just like a little mouth. Mother remembers that too.
• Lily of the Valley: Great Grandmother Matilda had Lilies of the Valley growing on the east side of her house. Mother remembers they were the kind with the little heart on them. They came up every year and you did not have to replant them.
• Salvia: We always had red Salvia when I was growing up.
• Lilies: I remember banks of the old farmyard lilies. They seemed to mark where the old farm homes had been.
• Snowball bushes: Mother doesn't remember much about these when she was a child. However, Mother and Daddy have beautiful Snowball Bushes.
• Sunflowers: Mother thinks her parents had Sunflowers next to the vegetable garden, but she will have to think on this. I don't remember much about Sunflowers when I was growing up. We had lots of glorious sunflowers this year and took many pictures of them and sometimes us. I later found a picture of Aunt Mary standing beside a huge one in the backyard of their new home in Prairie Village, Kansas, in the mid 1950s.
• Zinnias: We always had Zinnias when I was growing up. They were a standard. Mother remembers the same.
• Dahlias: Mother remembers that her Mother and Daddy always had them. They were beautiful and had to be dug in the fall.
• Cox Comb: We don't remember specifics but we know these were a standard with the old timers.
• Celosia: Mother remembers her Mother and Daddy called them something else.
• Coleus: I love the beautiful varied color of these leaves. Aunt Lu had Coleus inside. She would often "root it" in a bright sunny area.
• Poppies: Mrs. Wagner was the lady across the street from our house in Kirksville. She had what seemed to me to be a whole field of Poppies. As an adult, I am sure that they were not that big. They were bright orange.
• Irises: Our family always had Irises when I was growing up. Richard's Mother was fond of her Irises. Aunt Louise loved Irises and had several varieties. When we moved into our own home in North Dakota in 1976, family members sent starts of Irises. When I was growing up, Irises were often called "Flags" and bloomed about the time of Memorial Day. They figured prominently in bouquets on the graves.
• Cannas: Aunt Ruthie and Mother remember these from their childhood. They remember a special family story and they smile across the miles that now separate them.
• Golden Glows: Aunt Ruthie remembers these by the back door of their house when they were growing up, but neither she nor Mother remember what they looked like. I said I would do an internet search.
• 4 O'clocks: Mother remembers that, sure enough, they bloom about 4 o'clock. Her Daddy loved these.
• Violets
• Pansies: My Grandmother "Ottie" loved pansies. I have a picture of me celebrating my 1st birthday with a bowl of pansies in front.

Our "Grandmother's Garden" will take a while to construct and it will be several years before it is fully developed. Of course, those things are always changing. I am seeking plants now. My highest priorities are to find old plants from our family. Few of those old plants remain., although I do have some. It is my hope to integrate as many as I can find. For others, I will try to find old varieties in the current seed catalogs or from stashes of family and friends.

And so, Dear Reader, what of these lovely flowers and ladies has meaning to you?

~~~~~

Quilt Photos at Top and Bottom: Richard's Mother Ethel Kirkpatrick Crawford created this lovely "Grandmother's Flower Garden" quilt for her new grand-daughter Melanie in the early 1970's.

Photo Above: This little lady in the picture is my Great Grandmother Matilda Waibel Brenz, on my Mother's side. She is pictured in her garden by her house on West Burton Street in Kirksville. While she passed before I was born, I remember going to this house to visit her daughter, my Great Aunt Della, when I was a child. Great Grandmother is pictured with Uncle Harl Wiles (my Great Aunt Clara's husband). When we lived in the city, I had constructed a "cottage garden" in our backyard. Seeing this photo some years later reminded me that many of those things that I loved came directly (but unknown to me) from those who came before.

Photo Below: This is me at almost 3 with Great Aunt Lula Hart in the backyard of the house my family rented at 510 West Pierce in 1951.