Heirloom plants/sentimental plants

Hi, all...

Your wonderfully eloquent responses to my original post have prompted much
reminiscing here...both sad and happy. When I married and moved into this
house that my husband has lived in for his entire life, I inherited pale
pink and dark red peonies that were originally planted by his paternal
grandmother, purple (some might say blue) and white columbines, hollyhocks,
campanula glomerata, yellow shrub roses and pale pink shrub roses. Also
present were thalictrum, mahonia repens, and hesperis matronalis, all showy
natives. About two years after moving here, I finally got into some serious
gardening, and one of the first plants I ordered was a spirea
vanhouttei...because my Mom had one at the house where I spent all my
school years. Unfortunately, that shrub doesn't fare too well with Montana
winters, but I keep it around, just the same. (Won't even talk about Mom's
peach trees !!)

When I was getting started with my landscaping, Mom brought me lots of
vinca minor, sedums, shasta daisies, red & yellow columbines, iris, and a
euphorbia that we cannot identify, so all of these plants will remain a
link to my Mom. Dad, who died last August, wasn't a garden-type, but he
loved my "Helen Elizabeth" oriental poppies, so now they will forever be my
little memorial to him. He also took great delight in the oenothera hookeri
that I grew one year, making sure to be present when the flowers opened.
Such a lovely memory of a happy time.

Linda's story about gladiolus is similar to that of one my aunts, who says
that she doesn't like lilies because they remind her of her father's
funeral. I suspect that a lot of people have an aversion to certain
flowers, without knowing why, for the same reason. I did not ask whether
the lilies were oriental, but I suspect that maybe they were, since aromas
are such potent agents of recall.

Anne wrote about her beloved kitty's buriel spot. I don't wish to resurrect
that sad thread about pets that had me in tears for several days, but I
will say that when we lost a special little kitty (she still had her
spaying stitches; was killed by a predator, most likely an owl) in Oct. of
1991, we put her in a little box with her favorite toy (a foam earplug),
and I planted peony 'Lora Dexheimer' on top of her little coffin. 'Lora'
blooms in June, which is when we got the kitty, so I thought it fitting.
(BTW, we no longer let our cats outside at night)

Thanks so much for sharing your memories.

Myrnaa, Zone 3, Montana

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