I really love flowers…of all seasons and zones!

I went for a walk this evening and, as always, stopped to smell and appreciate the flowers.

Every place that I have lived has flowers laced throughout my memories of living there.

From my childhood and high school years living along the Wasatch Front in Utah, my memories are strewn with iris blooms, and lilac bushes. My room was tucked into a fence on the side of the house, and the fence was lined with purple iris. In the early summer, I would open my windows so I could let the breeze carry in their candy sweet smell. Royal, ruffled purple petals traced with bright yellow – I love them. So did my mother in love, who is now deceased. I can’t see iris without thinking of her.

A few years ago I sent some iris bulbs to her widower, my sweet dad in love. He planted them alongside the cabin they had brought back to life, from roots over a hundred years old. I bought the purple blooms she loved so much, but when they blossomed the next year, they were pure white. I am humbled to see these pure blossoms, which now represent her freedom from this life.

Lilac bushes were absolutely cherished by me as well- every year I longed for them to bloom. I can still see them waving in the breeze, floating their warm perfume in the air. I’d make a vase of cuttings and bring them into the house, so I could enjoy them both inside and outside.

Try as I might, I cannot get any variety of either flower to grow in the hot sauna I live in – but I have a dream list of flowers I will be planting when we retire and move north of here, God willing.

In the mean time, I look for the beauty around me. The crepe myrtle that prolifically scatters it’s petals like confetti all summer. The honeysuckle that winds its way through the kudzu. The Rose of Sharon bush that mimics the luscious hibiscus potted nearby.

I celebrate life in the beauty of the seasonal blooms.