The roses I have left are putting on quite a show. All this rain Oklahoma is receiving in April and May makes the garden glad to grow. Birds are singing. Bees are humming, and I saw a baby damselfly this morning on an iris. He or she got away before I took his/her picture.
May is the month of mothers, and, in the Catholic Church, we also honor the Blessed Mother in May and October. That’s why you often see the oldest woman in a parish crowning a statue of Mary during the month of May. It’s considered a true honor and is often done at school masses. The children bring the flowers. It’s a lovely tradition.
Roses, called the queen of the flowers, are always associated with love and Mother’s Day. Mothers, with all their daily sacrifices, definitely deserve their place at the royal table. No one will go to bat for you like your mother. No one on Earth loves you more.
This is not to negate fathers. They are just as important, but different, and May isn’t their month. They can still enjoy the roses though.
As for my mother, I’m fortunate to have her still with me. Twenty-six years ago, on April 29, my mother nearly died in a car accident on Will Rogers Turnpike. She was heading north to Aurora, Missouri, to see her mother, Margaret, who was also making my wedding dress because my wedding day was May 12. After Mom’s accident, dear Margaret, ]not only dropped everything to come take care of her child, she also finished my wedding dress. She moved to Oklahoma as soon as my mom got out of the hospital. Mom couldn’t walk or even care for herself. Margaret spent months cooking and caring for Mom.
I repeat, no one loves you like your mother.
The wedding was all planned and paid for so Bill and I married in a church parlor on May 12. My mom was still in the hospital, so a dear friend, Ray Morrison, videotaped the ceremony. This was when cell phones only made phone calls. We honeymooned in Tulsa where my mom remained in intensive care for a month. Her jaw was wired shut, and the rest of her body put back together with lots of loving care and attention by doctors at St. Francis, known locally as the Pink Palace. Tears rolled down Mom’s cheeks as she watched the video. It was the best we could do.
Forty-three or more surgeries later, she is handicapped, but still living. Yes, forty-three plus.
Perhaps, you wonder how growing roses relates to my mother, but I can’t look at them without thinking of her. My mother’s name is Rose. Both the Rose in my life and those in my garden have been taking it on the chin for quite awhile, but they are also still kicking and manage to remain beautiful as they do it.
Fewer garden roses make me appreciate them all the more. As for my mother, well….
For this Mother’s Day, I’ll plant my mom’s containers again. Because she has trouble getting around and gardening–although she does still live independently–she gardens in pots. I make a nursery run and choose plants for her. It’s fun putting together combinations she enjoys. She is fond of calibrochoas, some petunias and purple fountain grass, for instance. When I wrote for Fiskars, I did a piece on horticultural therapy, and I included my mom and our Mother’s Day planting in the pictures. I also bought her a Double Knockout rose years ago that grows next to her patio. This was before Knockouts had so much trouble with Rose Rosette, and hers is still healthy. It’s blooming beautifully this year. One spring for Mother’s Day, I planted a peony between her house and her neighbor’s. All through the drought and Mom’s multiple surgeries, her neighbor hand watered it. Even when Mom was in the hospital for two summers in a row, her neighbor watered it and watched for the blooms. She felt if she kept it alive Mom would come home. This year that peony bloomed so much that Mom cut the blooms and brought them inside before the rain. She brought ants inside too, but that’s another story for another day.
Garden writers and horticulturalists spend a lot of time answering questions about how to grow a particular plant, or what to do when things go wrong. People often contact me because they want to grow a particular flower their mother, grandmother, father, or grandfather loved. Gardening is really about love. When you grow that rose, peony, iris or tomato loved by someone you love, you are keeping their cherished memory alive.
Both of my grandmothers were amazing gardeners. One was obsessive like me while the other, my maternal grandmother just grew anything she could from plants passed along to her. Neither grandmother had the money to indulge herself with a lavish garden like mine. People gave Margaret cuttings in wet paper towels. She stuck them into the soil, and they grew. As a small child, I thought it was magic. She grew large peonies, a rose or two, and always had gorgeous houseplants. I am terrible with houseplants. Everyone has something they can’t grow.
My paternal grandmother, Juanita, could grow anything, from vegetables to a fantastic red rose that covered one side of her front porch. Under that porch was a swing where I read books on summer afternoons, a glass of iced tea and a slice of German chocolate cake perched on the seat beside me.
My mother never had time to garden much, but she does love her containers. I can’t wait to see what we come up with this year. I’ll take pictures! The more flowers and bright foliage the better. As I look at this very good year for roses, I’ll think of my own Rose. I’m so glad she’s still with me, and we can do things like plant together. She’s watched all of her grandchildren grow into adulthood, and that’s a blessing many don’t receive. I love you Momma. Happy Mother’s Day.
What a lovely post this is, Dee! I’m happy your mother survived such an ordeal and that the two of you can still enjoy planting some flowers together. I’m happy, too, to see that you still have so many beautiful roses, after losing so many last year. Happy Mother’s Day!
Thank you Rose. Me too! Happy Mother’s Day to you too.
What a sweet tribute to your mum and your grandma. They’re also blessed to have you for a daughter and granddaughter. I’m glad this has been a good spring for your roses (and your other plants). Happy Mother’s Day to you and your mom. 🙂
Thank you Beth. It’s been a superior spring. I still wouldn’t plant any new roses though because I still found RRD in the early spring. I just dug those roses up.
What a sweet tribute of your Mom. I am so happy for you that you get to do her containers. You are both mightly blessed. Happy Mother’s Day to you…
Beautiful – you, your mother, her neighbor and the roses! I only grow wild roses and grow is an understatement – they are large and wily. I love when Prairie Rose blooms by my back porch – she buzzes and hums with bees – it is the best sound ever! Happy Mother’s Day.
Kathy, once upon a time before Rose Rosette entered the kingdom, I grew some of those wild and wooly ones too. They are so beautiful. Thank you for your sweet words.
What a lovely tribute to Mothers and to your roses. In years past we wore roses on Mother’s Day to honor our mothers, red for the living and white for those mothers gone on. Maybe I’ll twist up a little White Dawn corsage this year.
A florist where I used to help before Mothers Day used to make popular mixed boxes that would do your Mother proud. Have a happy Mother’s Day.
Nell Jean, I love the idea of wearing a rose corsage to honor our mothers. That’s simply lovely.
Carefree Beauty is my favorite rose. Have I said that before? Glad to see you have so many survivors.
Marian, I don’t remember, but she’s my all-time favorite too. I’ve had great success over the years taking cuttings and growing them out. It’s such a wonderful rose. Lovely sweet scent too.
What a very beautiful story! Can’t wait to see your Mom’s containers. Your roses are so gorgeous. I am crushing on the David Austin roses! I am planting some peonies this year. They were my Grandmother’s favorites. I can not think of Memorial Day and not think of her putting peonies in every container she could find.
Hi Peggy, planting peonies is a great investment because they simply live forever. Just be sure to plant them shallowly enough that they will bloom. They need that cold air on their roots to be happy and blooming. They also don’t appreciate crowding one bit. I love the David Austin roses. I really do.
Great post, Dee. I love how you help us see that gardening is more than just sticking plants in the ground. It’s a lifelong project that intertwines with the rest of our life.
Kathy, and those we’ve loved before. I wish I could talk to my grandmothers again. I really do.
Beautiful roses you have!. I grow Knock Out roses as they are the only ones I seem to be able to do well with. Black spot and other rose issues do in anything else I have tried. Though I do have Rugosa Roses now as well in pots to try! I ordered a bundle of starts and potted them up last year. They are big and ready to plant now.
Hey Texan, have you tried some of the roses at the Antique Rose Emporium or Chamblee’s? The ones that designated Earthkind by Texas A&M seem to perform well with very little blackspot or other problems. Just a thought. Have a great week potting up your rugosas. I love Rugosa roses. I have two.
What a lovely Mother’s Day blog. I have managed to escape the rose rosette virus in my garden thus far. My husband and I planted a Tropicana rose in our “new” front yard for Mother’s Day 35 years ago. Being gardening newbies we did not choose the best location for a rose – far too much shade. I’ve threatened to move it every year since but he begs me to leave it alone. It is blooming more now than ever in 35 years!
Tropicana is my favorite rose. When I had roses in San Antonio, I had 2 of them. And they all came out when it became clear that I was allergic to them.
I am so happy you have so many beautiful blooms to great you! So difficult all the loss but gardening is like that! Just like life! Hugs…
Isn’t that the truth Laurin?
Lovely to hear the cherished stories relating to your Momma and grandmas. And also lovely to see how many of your roses are doing so beautifully – they look splendid, Dee!
Thank you Ginny! I think it’s all the lavish care I’ve bestowed upon them this year. Oh, and the rain. That certainly helps too.
Have enjoyed each rose you have displayed and especially the lovely
post about your mother.
Thank you so much Phyllis.
What a lovely post, and a lovely tribute to your mom and grandmothers. You are right, when we grow the plants our parents/grandparents grew, we keep them not only in our gardens, but in our hearts and minds. Happy Mothers Day to you and your lovely mom.
Oh how sweet you post is, I am sitting here with tears in my eyes and so grateful to have been able to see all the flowers you have grown and to have watched your blog and your family grow and blossom, I am so blessed.
God bless your Mom. Your roses are lovely. Let’s hope no more rose rosette disease. Happy Mother’s Day.
Your garden is putting on such a spectacular show…The roses are truly amazing and your photos are so enjoyable,
Thank you so much Charlie. It’s all that rain we’re getting. Plus, I’m on a tour so I’ve been giving the garden lavish treatment. You know how that is. 😉