7/8/10

The Flowers of Home






Is it silly to admit that one of my favorite reasons for going home to South Dakota in the springtime is to be able to visit favorite flower species that just don't grow in Texas? It's true, though. I plan walks along routes that I know will take me past favorite gardens or to places in the parks where poppies grow on their own. I carry the camera in my trunk and have been known to pull over to take photos of flowers when I come across them around town. A local gardening society does a wonderful job with the gardens at the Journey Museum; huge swaths of iris, columbine, and wildflowers meander through boulder-strewn beds. Orange poppies spring up every year along Rapid Creek in an undeveloped park; they are remainders of the gardens of homes that were lost in the 1972 flood. People are sometimes very generous with their garden flowers, handing out bouquets of peonies and irises without even being asked (including the bouquets pictured here, which were given to me right on time for my birthday, just by coincidence!) Of course, the lilacs are also a big star, and if you don't have any bushes of your own, you may have discovered places to cut a few branches to bring home with you. Flowers are certainly a way to celebrate spring! Do you seek out favorite gardens in your town?

4 comments:

Janelle said...

Oh, those are just gorgeous, all of them! We were visiting my husband's sister in PA in May, and all her lilac bushes were blooming. We sat in the backyard and inhaled them all weekend! (Lilacs don't seem to grow in southern VA, and I miss them!)

Cindy said...

Our town does have a couple of public gardens. My mother in law's property has lilac bushes but when we sell her house I'm thinking of trying to transplant something into our yard.

Pretty photos!

elizabeth said...

Nice... I take lots of flower pix too...

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