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Monday, May 21, 2012

A Story From Long Ago . . . . .


 

. . . it began with an Iris.
I was living in Wisconsin with my husband
Gary and our children Scott and Susan.
We had a made a trip to Iowa to visit my parents.
My mom and dad enjoyed their yard and gardens.
No doubt some of my love of the outdoors,
creating and designing with trees, shrubs and flowers
came from my parents.

My mom invited me to go to a farm
which belonged to some neighbor friends.
We went there to dig some Iris for mom and dads yard. 
We came home, dug them in.
Mom set some Iris aside for me to take back to Wisconsin. 
I planted the clump when we arrived back in Baraboo
and the Iris bloomed each year after
until we moved to Michigan in 1975 .

And the story continues . . .
 
When we moved to Michigan
 we had one car packed with garden and house plants and Suzie's cat
and the other car had our Irish Setter Ginger, our clothing
and our favorite things we wanted with us
while we waited a month to get in our house.

The garden plants and Iris waited in pots to be "dug in".
Life began in Montague Michigan.
Things were planted and
my gardening interest grew with a passion.



The Iris thrived and was split with clumps of Iris being given to others.
One of the clumps went to my dear friend Babs.
I moved from Montague to a condo in 1988
and into my new home in 1989.

Babs dug a clump of the Iris I had given her
and it came back to me to plant at my new home.

Since 1989, each spring, around Mother's Day,
before the Iris blooms, I split some of the Iris to give to someone new.
The Iris is now living in Colorado, back in Iowa, Wisconsin, this year it went south
to Arkansas, and several clumps are alive and well here in the Muskegon area.

The flower is different than the usual Iris I see in this area.
This one is very small, a blue/purple, mom called it a Japanese Iris.
I have several blooming clumps, except for one. 
The main clump which has been split many times,
for the first time is without blooms.
Interesting . . .

We each have stories to tell.
What about you?



29 comments:

MarmePurl said...

Fantastic Story! Beautiful Flowers. I have no such story from my garden...yet. But I am now inspired to create one that can be told by others in the future.

Barb said...

My Japanese Iris is so wonderful. Blooms aplenty every year. Thoughts of Lynne every spring.! A gift that keeps on giving.

Jill said...

They are beautiful! I love the gift of flowers.

koralee said...

What a sweet story!
And Yes...you may save my image!
Have a great day. xoxox

TexWisGirl said...

what a wonderful gift that keeps giving to you and to others because of you. :)

This N That said...

I've done that with day lilies from my grandmothers farm

At Home in English Valley said...

Hi Lynne, I love this story, sounds so like you...generous to a fault! your Iris just need a rest, next year I predict an abundance of blooms. We're still wating... Love, Penny

At Home in English Valley said...

Hi Lynne, I love this story, sounds so like you...generous to a fault! your Iris just need a rest, next year I predict an abundance of blooms. We're still wating... Love, Penny

Pamela Gordon said...

Iris is such a beautiful plant! I have 2 very large clumps of them that grew from some my hubby's aunt gave me. They are very tall purple ones - perhaps bearded iris?
They haven't bloomed yet. Usually around mid June they start. Something to look forward to.

Lynn said...

Mine are wild violets.
They came from Aunt Mary’s
farm in eastern Oklahoma
to our house there. I put
them around the edges of most of the flowerbeds. When we
bought the property here in Alabama I moved a few. It took five
years to relocate and they were busy in our absence. Now twelve
years later they are everywhere. Poking up in containers, waving
to me on pathways, always making
me smile as I walk to the mailbox. I know they are considered an
invasive weed by some. To me they
are just lovely. Thank you for asking.

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Unknown said...

I just love stories ! This one was so good and your flowers look so nice. As far as the color and blooms, this has been a different spring, also a very mild winter. It affected most of everyone's flowers here.

I enjoy your writing !!

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Rain said...

Love this story Lynne! Very similar to some of my flowers-such a connection to our past and therefore our future!! Have a beautiful day! Rain

GardenOfDaisies said...

Your iris is really beautiful!! I love this story. They are called "pass-along plants" when you share them with friends. Years ago, my sister's MIL had a gorgeous hydrangea in her yard. My Mom admired that bush so the MIL gave her a cutting. It grew beautifully in my Mom's yard too. Many years later, the MIL went through a divorce, and had to move to a new home. A cutting soon made it's way from my Mom's house to the MIL's new home and a beautiful new hydrangea was soon growing, and helping to make some of the pain from the separation go away. I wish I lived near, so I could take cuttings and grow my garden faster. (I need to find a gardener friend near me who divides and wants to share.)

dee dee said...

What a beautiful story... Just love how love keeps giving year after year!
dee dee

Pearl said...

That's what I love about the perennials: being able to share them, and to know they live on somewhere else...

Greetings from Minneapolis!

Pearl

Thistle Cove Farm said...

love your story, Lynne and love the bearded iris. I have some that were growing when we bought the farm and still they bloom lovely. Hope the finger is healing and you're able to do what you need/want to do.

Nancy's Notes said...

What a beautiful story, Lynn!! I've got to think about it, but I don't remember if I have a garden story!

Have a great weekend!

Nancy

~from my front porch in the mountains~ said...

Spreading joy is what you have been doing :)
xo, misha

Donna said...

How lovely! To remember all of the years, gifting to others and sharing the joy of gardening and beauty with so many!

I really loved you sharing this story!

Blessings,
Donna

Nancy said...

What a beautiful story, Lynne. I have so many wonderful memories of going to the nursery and buying flowers with my mom whenever she came to visit me in California (when I lived there) and planting them around my home. She passed on her love for gardening to me, just as your parents did. Thanks for bringing back these precious memories.

Nancy said...

What a beautiful story, Lynne. I have so many wonderful memories of going to the nursery and buying flowers with my mom whenever she came to visit me in California (when I lived there) and planting them around my home. She passed on her love for gardening to me, just as your parents did. Thanks for bringing back these precious memories.

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful story... we have a Wisteria that has been shared around the family that my dad started...

Jenny Woolf said...

How nice to think it has been spread over so many different places. Perhaps that clump needs a rest and some extra fertiliser :)

It is really beautiful. I love irises and have a couple blooming right now.

Anonymous said...

I have a purple and white bearded iris and also a smaller bluish Japanese iris., both were given to me here in Virginia by a neighbor. The large purple and white bearded iris had been given to her by her grandmother so I'm proud to have it in my yard now. I think it's great how people continue to share this flower with one another and just keep passing it along. :-)

Gail said...

Sometimes if irises are too deep, they don't bloom.

Thank you for mine. It did not bloom this year but I have hopes for next year.