There Blooms a Garden
  • Home
  • About
    • Meet the gardener
  • The Blog Bouquet
    • Subscribe to the Blog
  • The Resource Trug
    • Kokedama - Basic Care
    • Straw Bale Gardening
  • The Potting Shed
  • Contact

A garden is for remembering

17/7/2014

Comments

 
In the garden I tend to drop my thoughts here and there.
To the flowers I whisper the secrets I keep and the hopes I breathe.
I know they are there to eavesdrop for the angels.
                                                                                               – Dodinsky  
Picture
Astilbe chinensis 'Visions in Pink'
It's been more than four years now since my sister passed away.  She was only 52 when she died. She was a larger-than-life woman who loved her family and all her animals.  And when she was well, she surrounded her country home with a lively mixed garden. 

I remember bringing some of her plants home with me; the most lovely was
Lavandula angustifolia 'Hidcote' ('Hidcote' lavender).  I had to try the transplanting, but this tender Zone 5 plant could not survive a northern winter.  Losing those plants was another grief and I remember breaking down months later when admiring lavender at a local greenhouse.

It's absolutely true that plants – their flowers and their scents – have an evocative power.  They bring back memories.  I also believe they can keep memories.

That's why in the spring after Catherine died I looked for plants to create a memorial garden.   I purchased several Astilbe chinensis 'Visions in Pink' ('Visions in Pink' False Spirea) thanks to a nursery gift certificate from kind friends.  You see, I needed five plants – one for each of the girls in our family.  I have no brothers, just sisters. 

When a gardener creates a
memorial, I am sure there is hidden significance behind the intention. I wanted a place of memory that kept Catherine with me and my surviving sisters in some way. 

In a sun-dappled corner, the astilbe are growing happily.  The mirror I placed behind the bed plays with the plants, increasing their number.  Yet, there is the bittersweet reminder that while some are present, some are only reflections.  People pass from our life; that is the way of things, but in the garden there can be peaceful memories. 

You are remembered, my sister.

Photo credit:    
Astilbe chinensis 'Visions in Pink' -
www.therebloomsagarden.com
This photo was selected for inclusion in the Master Gardeners of Ontario (MGOI) 2013 Annual Report. Thank you to MG coordinators across Ontario for their recognition. ~ H Rupert

Comments
    Picture
    The Blog Bouquet
    ... bringing you relevant gardening advice
    ​since 2013
    Picture
    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Annual Flowers
    Annuals
    Beekeeping
    Books
    Bulbs
    Containers
    Cultivation Tips
    Deer Resistant
    Design
    Direct Sowing
    Edible
    Fall
    Foliage
    Fruit
    Garden Art
    Garden Passion
    Garden Pests
    Garden Writers
    Growing Conditions
    Hardy Plants
    History
    Inspiration
    Lawn Alternatives
    Native Plants
    Perennials
    Photography
    Planning
    Plant Profile
    Plant Selection
    Pollinators
    Pruning
    Public Gardens
    Recipe
    Seeds
    Shrub
    Spring
    Trees
    Vegetables
    Winter
    Zone 2
    Zones 2/3

© Holly Rupert and There Blooms a Garden, 2012-2020 | therebloomsagarden.com  
Text and images belong to the site creator, unless otherwise stated.  To seek permission to use any content, please send a request. If you refer to content on this site, please credit this source on your blog, website, or in the pages of your publication. A link back is appreciated.   Cover image from Coleur at Pixabay
Get in touch!
Proudly powered by Weebly