My Mother's Wild Rosebush

Hello to spring......although she blew in with 65 mph winds and thick blinding dirt.

Although we are used to this in Texas especially at the start of March........we do not enjoy it. The most scary and surprising of it all was the high strong winds.  We are in desperate need of rain, the fields are so dry and this is what causes such thick dirt to fly.

 I am working on a embroidered piece of what is known

as "slow stitching"  see Yesteryear Embroideries

and wanted to start with a rose motif because it brings the memory of  my mother and the wild red rosebush that she grew. 

The roses looked exactly like this and they had the most heavy beautiful fragrance. 

I know I have a photo of my mother and her rosebush but could not find it in time for this post.

My parents owned a little place on the annex of a local lake and we spent many a weekend there. After us children graduated and left home, my parents made this space their full time residence. 

When my parents first acquired this space, there were many abandoned , collapsing old houses across the road and down the road.  The first year they were there, my mother noticed a vibrant red rose bush, across the road, growing in front of a tumbled and collapsed old house. It was amazing that it was still growing and blooming after years of being by itself.  I went across with my mother and watched her dig the hard earth with a shovel , unearthing the rosebush.  She proudly carried it back to her space and planted it on the side of her house. At that time, the rosebush was about 3 ft tall and not very big around. My mother nurtured and tended to this rosebush and year after year, it grew taller and wider.  It grew almost like a large round thicket......tall and round.....at least over 6 ft high and about 4 ft. around..........full of red blooms with buzzing bees.

That was close to over 50 years ago......and the rosebush is still alive and living.   

 Other family now own the estate , after my mother's passing , and they now tend to the rosebush. 

I think the rosebush has managed to survive all of these years because of good care ( I think my mom and it had a very strong friendship).......... and good earth where it had been able to grow runners and keep going.  

It is amazing to me how some things can just stand the test of time .........something so frail in the Texas heat as this rosebush.  I am always reminded of my mother when I see images of wild red roses. 

Now tell me.......what reminds you of your mother.......or parents?  I would love to hear. 

 

Along comes March

 

February brought a mixture of extreme cold days and then sunny pleasant days. Now March is here and the trees at this time are still bare and in their winter sleep.  This is a good time for me to walk the woods and to really see nature's gifts that I would, in the summer season ,not be able to see.

I gather empty wasps nests from the bare trees. In summer they are full of buzzing wasps and not easy to see with all of the leaves surrounding them. 

I find the wasp amazing creatures.  They can build their homes with such precision.  

Each nest , to me, looks like a piece of art.

I keep a few nests stored in brown paper bags to decorate in wreaths or sprays

 

 With just a few, I decorated with beads and silk flowers.

Also making a small bead wasp to be on the nest.  These make unique and whimsical wall hangings. 

I could not resist the pretty pansies at the local nursery.

I really love the color orange.

Usually I choose the pansies in the colors of blue and pink. What is your favorite color??

This year I decided on the orange and yellow.  They look so cheery and full of warmth.

So tell me........what is sprouting up in your back yard?

I would love to hear.