"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands........" 1 Thessalonians 4:11

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

My grandparents lived in an old white farmhouse

nestled in the middle of mesquite filled ranch land...........with a creek in the far back full of crawfish and surrounded by cotton fields. I don't quite remember if Grandma raised many flowers,
but I always have a vivid picture in my mind of her two large Lantana bushes that greeted everyone as they stepped up to the front porch. These two bushes spread the length of the porch and their pink and yellow blossoms were full  with buzzing bees and floating butterflies. When my grandparents moved into town, a few cuttings were taken from the bushes and planted at my grandparents new home and my mother also planted a cutting.

Now I have a large Lantana in my front yard, from that same cutting of my Grandmother's so long ago. It is full of buzzing bees and butterflies of every shape and color. It is in full bloom now and I always think of my grandparent's and their place out in the country when I see it like this.
How about you?
Do you remember special plants of your grandparents?
I would love to hear!

19 comments:

Tammy@Simple Southern Happiness said...

You have such wonderful memories and one you can tangibly touch a piece of your past and watch it grow. Beautiful lantana you have there, Its the colors I wanted but the nursery was out of that color.

Vickie said...

Hi Kathleen - you bet! I have some iris that were at my grandmother's old home place many years ago. They've kinda moved around with me. I have some of that color lantana at my house and I just love it. Think I'm gonna get me more for next year!

lil red hen said...

We lived only a short distance from the old farm house where my daddy grew up; Grandpa was gone before I was born, and Grandma wasn't very affectionate. She did have a few roses, but there was a little apple tree, called a June apple, bearing fruit filled with worms, but they tasted so good to us kids who didn't have fruit very often.

Unknown said...

My grandma was an avid gardener but the one flower that always turns my thoughts to her are iris'. She LOVED them -- so do I :)

Blessings!
Gail

Gingerbreadshouse7 said...

I remember my grandfathers place..with chickens and pigs. I also remember he would burn "rags" to keep the mosquitoes away while sitting outside in the backyard with his friends in the evening.

Elaine/Muddling Through said...

My grandparents also lived in a white farmhouse in the country. They had a man build it for them from an older one that was pulled down on the same property. Just outside the front door was a very large gardenia. She called it a cape jasmine. The most wonderful fragrance. And yes, I have some of those growing in my yard, too, though not from that bush of hers. Precious memories!

Paula said...

The lantana is beautiful, Kathleen, and how special that it is from your grandmothers.
I remember my grandmother having lots of beautiful flowers, but the one thing in her yard that stands out in my memory was a HUGE magnolia tree she had growing in her front yard... it was so big you could walk underneath the branches just like a great big umbrella. And when the blooms opened up, it smelled like Heaven...

Connie said...

Those are such lovely flowers, Kathleen. I love the sweet memory they conjure up for you. When I see red geraniums, I always think of my Grandma. She grew them every year. :)

Michaele said...

Sounds like Texas? Those really are heirloom plants aren't they : )

Pat / Silver Thimble Quilt Co. said...

My grandparents lived in Florida with orange groves in the backyard. Oh how I love to eat the oranges right from the tree!

Pat

Ladybug said...

Memories of the past are wonderful filling our hearts with things we loved as kids,Love the Lantana's
I try and keep one growing all the
time.. Iri's were the favorite in
our family,
Blessings/ Happy Gardening

peggy said...

My flower from my grandmother is just an ink flower but the bees love it and it has survived here 34 years and been divided many times. Some people don't like it because it is so common but the only flowers they had back in her day were those that could be passed along by friends. She would be amazed at the garden centers of today. I love your lantana.

Mitzi said...

I can remember as a child sitting on a porch swing at my Grandparents house smelling the climbing rose bush that was planted next to the porch. To this day I love the smell of wild roses.

A Colorful World said...

Oh yes! When I was a child and visiting my aunt's modest little home in AL, just down the drive from my grandparents' house, there was the most glorious aroma by the front step--a bush grew there with cinnamon-scented roundish flowers. Not a spice bush but a close cousin, and for the life of me, I can't remember its name right this minute. But I have always wanted one. My aunt was a very active flower-grower. There were floower beds with thrift and other beautiful blooms. She was a spinster lady who devoted her life to caring for first one family member and then another, and never had much of a "life" of her own. I have always imagined that her flowers gave her one of her only real joys. I can understand that when I tend my growing things...they make me happy. I suppose I must have "inherited" that joy from her.

Sue said...

Yes I do Kathleen, my grandmother grew gladiolas, irises, and I always enjoyed seeing them grow. Your lantana is beautiful, we grow it and love it because it is so pretty and very forgiving. Thanks for sharing your memory.
Sue

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Kathleen, your story had such wonderful memories and I wish I had similar ones to share. But I don't remember too much about any of my grandparents and don't believe any grew flower gardens, just vegetables.

Agrigirl said...

I love this post and yes, miniature roses, allium, dahlias, peonies around Memorial day, crocus in spring.

Grammyof13 said...

Girl you never cease to amaze me with your descriptive blogs. I can see the picture while I read. You should be a published writer! You are truly great at any of your crafts. Keep up the great work and we'll keep reading. Love all the comments you get and the followers you have.

Blessings, Doris

Suma Subramaniam said...

the lantana looks beautiful Kathleen. I remember the jasmine tree and hibiscus plants my grandparents had in their garden.