Mosaic Monday/Outdoor Wednesday...or...Heirloom Flowers

Today I am sharing something that is very special to me…my heirloom flowers! These are flowers that came from my grandmother and mother’s yard or garden. They are not fancy, but have very special meaning to me. Let me show them to you and tell you their stories!

Several years ago, while visiting my elderly aunt, I asked her for something…anything…from my grandmother’s garden. You see, my aunt inherited my grandmother’s home and what was once a beautiful flower garden behind it. It was January and all that we could find was a clump of grape hyacinths. I happily dug them up and took them home with me.

It took two years, but they finally bloomed this Spring!! What a wonderful surprise to see these flowers peeking up at me from the pot! But the best surprise came last Spring, when two tiny plants appeared among the hyacinths. I decided to let them grow to see what they were and…

…after some research, I realized they were Rose of Sharon shrubs! It is not a rose at all, but a very hardy cousin of the hibiscus. Then I remembered that was how my aunt had identified the plants growing near the grape hyacinths. And best of all, there were two of them. I felt that they were very special gifts from my grandmother...one for me and one for my sister!! So…I potted them separately and watched them grow from little sprouts to big, tall plants. I gave this one to my sister, since it was the only one that bloomed last year.

This Spring, I planted mine in the ground, hoping that it would bloom, too. What a wonderful surprise when it did!! Mine was this lovely shade of purple!! I did some more research and found out that sometimes the seedlings will be a different color from the parent plant. Don’t tell my sister, but I think I got the prettier one!! lol

I also want to show you my ginger lilies. I dug these up from my mom’s yard the night before we left her home for the last time and put it up for sale. I have had them planted in my yard for seven summers now and they never disappoint. They have the most fragrant and delicate flowers. People walking by my house have stopped to ask me where that wonderful smell was coming from! I wish I had a scratch and sniff blog so I could share the fragrance with you, but imagine gardenias and you will be close! They also attract hummingbird moths in the evening. I want to photograph them for another post, but they have not shown up yet this year.

I love the way the lilies spread…almost above the ground. When I cut into them to divide and share them with my sister and my daughter, I discovered why they are called ginger lilies. Not only do the rhizomes look like ginger, they smell like it, too!

It doesn’t bloom, but I also wanted to show you this cast iron plant. It came from my mother’s yard, but was originally planted at my godfather’s house. I love its bright green leaves and dense foliage! It’s a very slow spreader and really prefers more shade than I have at my current home. I also had it planted along a shady fence at my previous home and it was a show stopper!

I am sure that all of these plants are available in catalogs, but I love the idea of “pass-along’’ plants that come from the garden of a relative or friend. That makes them so much more special!!

Thanks for coming by! Please head on over to Mary’s wonderful blog Little Red House for Mosaic Monday to see one of her beautiful mosaics and to find out who else is playing along this week.

Then stop by A Southern Daydreamer to pay a visit to our own Georgia girl, Susan for Outdoor Wednesday. You’ll be treated to her beautiful gardens and find a list of more fabulous blogs with lots of amazing places to visit and things to see. See you next time! A la prochaine!