Floral Memories....

 When my Mom died, my girls discussed getting matching tattoos in her memory. This is still on the table. Designs have been tossed about on various occasions, but all apparently agree that the tattoos should be floral, to reflect Mom's love of gardening. But what flower?

The Princess and Babygirl were discussing this last while she was home. The problem for Babygirl is that her memories of her Grandma are narrower than all of her sisters'. She's the youngest. She recalls Dementia Grandma in detail, Gardening Grandma, not so much.     

But my Mom was always a gardener. In the home I grew up in there were numerous flower gardens - a side bed, a large front bed full of poppies and irises, the bed by the front door; and, in some years, a vegetable garden.  I remember a patch of hens-and-chicks, thickly surrounded by forget-me-nots (a most incongruous pairing!). Tucked by the shaded back door there were lily-of-the-valley.  Large clumps of peonies had pride of place near the front door, to be picked each year and donated for the church altar and high school graduation. Wild violets graced lawn, I was taught early the difference between a daffodil and an jonquil. 

In the home she had when the Princess was a child, she had a large shady garden, so the peonies had to move to the back yard. The deer there ate any and all bulb flowers, but bleeding hearts grew in abundance at the front door, with impatiens and giant begonias.

At her last home, things got a little wild. She had clematis growing up the side of the porch, and later, wisteria. There was sweet pea in the back, and the bleeding hearts made it into the woods. But the poppies reined in front, and peonies marched down the entire side of the property.

She was a lover of wildflowers as well. Babygirl and I took a hike today, and I got some snapshots of a large variety of flowers, not all of which I could ID, but I know my Mom could have.  

When we needed to set up email for her, I asked her to make up an email address.  She couldn't come up with anything on the fly, so I named her CooCooLady.  She went with it for a while, but later asked for an upgrade. She started with flower suggestions, but single flowers, peony among them, were all taken.  She finally got "PoppyAster" to stick.

Poppies are out of season. Here's an aster for you.

Babygirl and I are on a girl's weekend together, camping.  I miss my mom.  She was never the type to take the 4 mile hike through the woods (to be fair, we weren't intending to go that far.  It was a lovely ramble but we were lost for a minute), but she taught me to SEE the little flowers, learn their names, appreciate the beauty around me, as well as how to keep your sense of humor while you wait for the camp coffee to be done. 

So, Mom? Thanks for being that Mom who did the Girl Scout camp outs, the cross-country trips, and the repetitive weekend camping at the lake.  Memories. 

DeeDee