I love when the peonies start to bloom – gorgeous color and the flowers smell amazing! This particular peony has special meaning for me – it came from a cutting of the same peony that my Great Grandfather planted on the family farm I grew up on. It’s hardy, tough and vibrant – a lot like Great Grandpa Dave, come to think of it.
My Great Grandpa also planted an amazing yellow rose bush on the farm – it’s not a fancy shrub rose or hybrid rose; it’s simply an old-fashioned rose bush. My mother gave me a cutting of this, as well, and I planted it several years ago at my home. It’s now well over 6 or 7 feet tall and can handle just about anything the Minnesota winter throws at it. And in late spring, these gorgeous yellow rose blooms spring up all over and light up the yard – especially in the evening, when the flowers almost seem to glow.
Even though I don’t live on the family farm anymore, I still have many ties to it – and I can see a couple of those ties every day in my own garden. Isn’t it amazing that these plants that were first planted so long ago by my Great Grandfather can be brought to my yard for my own family to enjoy? I think of Great Grandpa Dave – who passed away when I was just a few weeks old — every time I look at the rose bush and the peony. I think he’d be pleased that his plants are alive and well at my house now, too.