Posted by Karla Lofgren Davis ~ March 16, 2008
In an earlier post (Remembrance of Things Past) I talked about the things that ~ when we encounter them in our daily lives ~ suddenly bring forth full blown memories without conscious effort. I have had that kind of experience several times lately as spring growth is burgeoning all around us.
We have several plants around our yard now that evoke strong memories of our old home place there at the end of Broadway. Bridal Wreath is one of those. When I was growing up, there were two such bushes in our front yard, twin sentinels at either end of our screened front porch. The more technical name for the bush is spirea, but I still prefer the common name “bridal wreath”. As a young girl, playing in that huge wooded yard, I loved to break off long branches of the flowers. I suppose as I waved the graceful arching boughs of delicate white flowers about, and thought the words “bridal wreath”, the flowers were imbued with an ethereal quality that caused me to dream of a beautiful wedding scene (of which I was the center of attention, of course). Maidenhair fern and woods violets are other plants that have a similar effect on me. Since all three ~ bridal wreath, maidenhair fern, and woods violets ~ are so delicate and exquisitely fragile, there seems to be something almost magical about them.
Just this past Sunday Ed and I were walking around our yard, talking about the spring gardening chores that we need to do ~ pruning, weeding, replanting, etc. The violets always need to be thinned out as they are rampant growers, and we both realized our bridal wreath and maidenhair fern plants need to be ripped out as they are well past their prime. The awful wrenching emotions I suddenly felt gave me insight into why I always want to have these plants in our garden.
Are there plants and flowers that you love, that bring forth strong memories for you? Please share your memories ~ or your current gardening projects ~ with us. Send photos to Karla by e-mail attachment.
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