And yes to passiflora! There was an amazing one in the stone house we stayed in - it was huge and wrapped around the top of the front door and balcony, intertwining an ever more enormous wisteria...aaah the memories.
I only had my own garden when I was 40 years old though, so have been making up for lost time
We didn't have house plants as such when I was a child apart from one cactus. I don't know where it came from or who watered it - it was just THERE. The first thing I grew before we had a garden was cacti, and I carried on and on - adding to my collection until I had about 30 varieties and I was known as the cactus lady (not sure that was a compliment though).
Now we grow masses of things but | still have a soft spot for cactus.
It was actually one of my neighbours when i was growing up that got me interested in gardening. She was a dear friend of my granny and gave me many cuttings. She had such a beautiful small garden with lovely mature trees and roses and arches etc. Sadly she passed when i was a teenager and i was very sad. I was even sadder when her daughter absolutely tore her garden apart a year later paved over everything. At least i was influenced by her and keep her gardening passion alive in her memory.
My current garden is titchy, but we have a water feature and bird bath that is visited regularly, and 2 feeding points, so we get great and blue tits, robins, wrens, blackbirds and wood pigeons visiting. Plus the odd frog!
My garden is only 5m x 3m, and I don't think I could physically fit in any more plants if I tried
Growing up in South Korea, where winters are harsh, all plants and flowers died during winter. My mother always had house plants and when we had a house with a yard (cannot call it a garden, because it was mainly bare earth), she made a flower bed with zinnias, rose moss (ground cover with red flowers), red salvias and cosmos. I always remember zinnias because it is literally called 'one-hundred-day-reds' in Korean and there is a fairy tale behind it:
Once upon a time, a beautiful girl (could be a princess) lived. She fell in love with a young man (don't remember if he was a prince or not) but he had to go to war far away. It was a very dangerous mission and she promised she'd wait for him to come back no matter how long it'd take him. The young man promised that the ship would fly a white flag if he is successful in the mission. A red flag would mean he has died in the battle. So the young man sailed away and the young maiden stood on the highest point on the coast to look at the horizon waiting for him. She waited for 100 days. In the meantime he won the battle and proudly hoisted the white flag. On the way back, the ship met a ferocious sea dragon. The young man fought the dragon and killed it.
After 100 days' waiting, the ship came in sight. The young maiden was excited and anxious to see the colour of the flag. When it came near, she saw it red. Alas, the young man didn't realise the dragon's blood turned the white flag red. In despair, she killed herself. Her innocent blood soaked the spot where she fell and there came the red zinnia which flowered for 100 days.
Now I have my small garden filled with shrubs, roses and flowers. My mother loved it even when it was only lawn with a laurel hedge (she last came in 2012). She is now 76 with Alzheimer's. I don't know whether she could visit me again but I know she'd absolutely love it.
For me, it's got to be dwarf zinnias. What a canvas of multi-colors! My mother grew them at every house we lived in (Dad was in the Air Force and we moved every 2 years). Mom would plant those short zinias in the garden areas and the lawn would be ablaze with color in the borders all summer long. She'd just tweak off the blooms upon death and sprinkle them on the ground and they'd come back ever year effortlessly. Ii have some seeds to sew soon, when I find two large white pots to plant them in. I have the perfect spots for them in full sun out front.
It has to be perennial fushias. When I first saw one they looked so exotic and that was called Mrs Hoffman I believe. The other, if I'm allowed a spring flower then it has to be aquilegia with their pretty foliage and multi coloured flowers
Posts
And yes to passiflora! There was an amazing one in the stone house we stayed in - it was huge and wrapped around the top of the front door and balcony, intertwining an ever more enormous wisteria...aaah the memories.
I only had my own garden when I was 40 years old though, so have been making up for lost time
Last edited: 19 March 2017 21:44:24
We didn't have house plants as such when I was a child apart from one cactus. I don't know where it came from or who watered it - it was just THERE. The first thing I grew before we had a garden was cacti, and I carried on and on - adding to my collection until I had about 30 varieties and I was known as the cactus lady (not sure that was a compliment though).
Now we grow masses of things but | still have a soft spot for cactus.
It was actually one of my neighbours when i was growing up that got me interested in gardening. She was a dear friend of my granny and gave me many cuttings. She had such a beautiful small garden with lovely mature trees and roses and arches etc. Sadly she passed when i was a teenager and i was very sad. I was even sadder when her daughter absolutely tore her garden apart a year later paved over everything.
At least i was influenced by her and keep her gardening passion alive in her memory.
aym I'm in North London, near Hampstead Heath.
My current garden is titchy, but we have a water feature and bird bath that is visited regularly, and 2 feeding points, so we get great and blue tits, robins, wrens, blackbirds and wood pigeons visiting. Plus the odd frog!
My garden is only 5m x 3m, and I don't think I could physically fit in any more plants if I tried
Oh, and goldfinches!
jaffacakes that must be have soul destroying to watch
Growing up in South Korea, where winters are harsh, all plants and flowers died during winter. My mother always had house plants and when we had a house with a yard (cannot call it a garden, because it was mainly bare earth), she made a flower bed with zinnias, rose moss (ground cover with red flowers), red salvias and cosmos. I always remember zinnias because it is literally called 'one-hundred-day-reds' in Korean and there is a fairy tale behind it:
Once upon a time, a beautiful girl (could be a princess) lived. She fell in love with a young man (don't remember if he was a prince or not) but he had to go to war far away. It was a very dangerous mission and she promised she'd wait for him to come back no matter how long it'd take him. The young man promised that the ship would fly a white flag if he is successful in the mission. A red flag would mean he has died in the battle. So the young man sailed away and the young maiden stood on the highest point on the coast to look at the horizon waiting for him. She waited for 100 days. In the meantime he won the battle and proudly hoisted the white flag. On the way back, the ship met a ferocious sea dragon. The young man fought the dragon and killed it.
After 100 days' waiting, the ship came in sight. The young maiden was excited and anxious to see the colour of the flag. When it came near, she saw it red. Alas, the young man didn't realise the dragon's blood turned the white flag red. In despair, she killed herself. Her innocent blood soaked the spot where she fell and there came the red zinnia which flowered for 100 days.
Now I have my small garden filled with shrubs, roses and flowers. My mother loved it even when it was only lawn with a laurel hedge (she last came in 2012). She is now 76 with Alzheimer's. I don't know whether she could visit me again but I know she'd absolutely love it.
Last edited: 28 March 2017 08:56:40
For me, it's got to be dwarf zinnias. What a canvas of multi-colors! My mother grew them at every house we lived in (Dad was in the Air Force and we moved every 2 years). Mom would plant those short zinias in the garden areas and the lawn would be ablaze with color in the borders all summer long. She'd just tweak off the blooms upon death and sprinkle them on the ground and they'd come back ever year effortlessly.
Ii have some seeds to sew soon, when I find two large white pots to plant them in. I have the perfect spots for them in full sun out front. 
Oh, that's a sad story Sammymummy, I have some green zinnias...dread to think of the stories behind those.
It has to be perennial fushias. When I first saw one they looked so exotic and that was called Mrs Hoffman I believe. The other, if I'm allowed a spring flower then it has to be aquilegia with their pretty foliage and multi coloured flowers