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

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Before we lived this country life

that we have come to love
we had lived in , what most consider, a small average town, on a busy street, in a decaying neighborhood.  We lived in a small "farm" type of house that had been moved from it's roots in the country to a loud, growling, city street..............it seemed as misplaced and unhappy as I felt living there.


However, "bloom where you are planted" has always been my statement for life, and I set out to make our newly wedded life in that home. All of our children were born there and we spent the first 19 years of our lives..........surviving the ups and downs of living inches away from what at times, were scary neighbors. On balmy summer afternoons, my husband and I would take our three children on walks to the "old" downtown area, where ever so often, we would meet up with the ice cream truck. On those walks, I would always see the Italian Jasmine pictured in these photos, gracefully growing along the stone hedges of old boarded up houses. Houses that a family grew up in and then moved away and forgot about..........only the Italian jasmine remained to grow and bloom. I knew this is what I wanted to grow along our backyard fence as well.

When I called the nursery to see if they had some for me to purchase, the owner told me that it was an "antique"plant, that no one carries any longer and that if I wanted it, I should just go dig up a sprig or two at the abandoned houses.  This I did...........which I am glad...........because a few months later those house were torn down and the property was turned into a parking lot..........killing the remaining jasmine.
When we found our home out here, I dug up my rose bushes, lantana, and jasmine and transplanted them  onto the grounds. Now the jasmine has grown so much that I have transplanted sections along the other areas in the gardens. This blooms it's cheery yellow flowers every January reminding me of the arrival of spring just around the corner. I love it for this reason, but I love it more for the memory it has created for me.
How about you? Is there any particular flower, tree, or plant, that brings back memories to you?
I would love to hear.

***just a note to say thank you for all of your supportive comments on my "book publishing" woes on my previous post.   I am not giving up and when it actually blossoms from a dream and into a reality, I will let you all know. Thank you for listening......reading.

17 comments:

Vickie said...

Actually, yes, Kathleen - I immediately thought about my grandmother's home. She had iris growing and spreading everywhere and I dug up some of them and brought them home with me many years ago. Your jasmine is lovely - love the stuff. I'm so glad you saved some of it - it's a wonderful memory! And I think of my grandmother every time I see the irises blooming!

Paula said...

It was sad that someone had taken the time to plant the jasmine, only to be forgotten about and left behind... but you rescued it so it could live on!
I remember the spring flowers that came up in my grandmother's yard every year, and when I was a little girl I would pick some for her and she would make on over them like that was the best thing anyone had ever given her...

Terry and Linda said...

Jasmine does not grow here, although I have several different plants in the house. I love jasmine and am so happy you have some for your place.


Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com

lil red hen said...

Sweet little flower; I'm not familiar with it here. I don't have memories of flowers from childhood; we didn't have a fence around our yard and the cows and hens had free range, so nothing much could survive. When Mama and Daddy moved to town she had flowers, finally. I have lots of flowers, now so maybe my grandchildren will have memories.

grammy said...

I did bring some Iris here from my Grandma's house.
I have so much... because there was some here already. The four year old Grand...just today wanted to dig up the 'potatoes' (o: I need to dig them up and replant and thin out. I am not a garden person!!! It may never happen. lol

Faith said...

Your lovely written post struck a cord in my heart. It gives me hope, that I too one day may have the dream of the country life, away from noises and cement boundaries which define it. Thank you. I have this what I call an idiocincracy about the things I plant in the garden, and when we make that move to the city they will go with us. Bleeding heart which was harvested from my husbands Godmother, to his mother, and now we have it also..the lovely vintage rose bush from the house next door, took a cutting and now I have 3 of these in my yard. The plant next door dug up for a driveway..so I get what you say....I'm lovin the feeling of the I can do it too...and am hopeful, one day move from the cement city to the grassy lands for chickens and gardens....ahh the dreams things are made of...Thank you for your lovely post...I appreciate it....

Connie said...

I've never heard of this kind of jasmine. It's very pretty. How neat that you have brought it along with you from where you used to live and that it holds so many memories for you. :)

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Kathleen, shortly after we moved to this house full-time after spending only summers working on it for 2 years, friends gave us some crepe myrtle twigs to plant. A neighbor joked as we planted, fertilized and faithfully watered them and said they would not grow. All of them did survive and now we have 5 mature crepe myrtled alongside our home.

Michaele said...

I can so relate to how you felt about living in town. We have been living in between the house in town and the acreage for 3 years now. I am SO uncomfortable surrounded by other houses. None of the neighbors are neighborly either.

Sue said...

I enjoyed this so much kathleen,I am so glad you were able to save the jasmine, and have the memory to cherish. My grandmother had a sweet shrub in her yard while i was growing up and i loved it so much, but was never able to find one,, that is until this past summer, I bought it and planted it in my garden and have enjoyed it so much as it reminds me of her. thank you for sharing.
Hugs,
Sue

nancy huggins said...

Your post did bring back some memories that are now gone out of my life from when I was growing up. They tore down all the beautiful houses where my Grandmother spent many years and also where my Mother grew up. They built all the big expensive houses that are so close you can hear the neighbors baby cry. The one memory I have is that my GM Loved Pansy's and I plant them every year no matter where I am living and I have fond thoughts of my younger days spent helping her plant them every spring (even if I just plant some in pots) It is great that you got to dig up some flowers to remind you of happy memories. I am looking forward to hearing about your book every time you give us an update. Like I said before I know it will be a best seller :)
Hugs
Nancy

MaryO said...

What beautiful blogs! And what beautiful needlework ! You can bet I'll be looking for your book to be published.

MaryO

papel1 said...

I expect to see flowers soon with our mild winter. Thought I had better stop by and say hi.
Judy

A Colorful World said...

Oh, the jasmine is lovely! And how wonderful that you saved it and have it to enjoy. I like the "older" plants I think the best. I loved reading this and seeing the first bloom of the year!

Elaine/Muddling Through said...

I had never heard of Italian jasmine, so this is something new for me. Pretty flower, too. My memory plant is the violet. It is so pretty and re-seeds, with pretty purple flowers and heart-shaped leaves. Lovely fragrance, too.

Tammy@Simple Southern Happiness said...

What thought provoking post. The memories you have each time you see the flowers.

Mine is of the black walnut trees. We had one in the backyard growing up and cant help to think of how many nuts we cracked.

GOD bless and keep you all safe.

Stickhorsecowgirls said...

Love this post, Kathleen!
We lived in a neighborhood in town for 22 yrs.Luckily we were able to move to the country about 12 yrs. ago to get away from the noise and commotion. It was getting scary. What I remember fondly, was the blooming wisteria on the back fence. The lovely purple blooms and the heady fragrance. When I was growing up, I loved the fragrance of the fuzzy, pink mimosa blooms outside the window.
V