A SWEET TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE




I wish this was 'smellavision'
or
a scratch and sniff blog


The fragrance hit me the second I opened the door
to the sTuDiO wItH a BeD

A heavy sweetness that tugged at my heart before the brain kicked in with the memory.

The floodgates opened the second I realized the source of the beautiful fragrance.

Gardenias
~
A few months ago the 'haunting' began.

I wanted gardenias.

I wanted to see the pure whiteness and be intoxicated
by the amazing scent.

I tried to shake this nagging desire, as my success with plants and flowers here in the desert has been, well....does abysmal seem
too harsh a word??
(camera pans to the patio with a lovely pot of fried petunia....one of those thought bubbles above it with the words
PLANTS COME HERE TO DIE.)


Why would I want to take on the responsibility of the demise of yet another living plant?

But I could not shake it.
~
It was bound to happen a week or so later
that when I visited the local Target I would

'accidentally'

park outside the garden entrance rather than the main entrance.........
...and pass by
(way over there in the corner where I did not have to walk) a group of potted beauties.

My latest heart's desire.

And it occurred to me.

Why would I deny myself this thing of beauty even if it did not live long?

I purchase bouquets of cut flowers at least once a month......
..wasn't this the same??......with the outside chance that it would live longer than a week?

Soooo, taking at least 15 minutes to pick the PERFECT foliage I happily went to the counter to check out.

Nothing else in my basket because, let's face it, I wasn't GOING there for anything else except a gardenias

Now let me first say that here in AZ, folks grow these glorious flowers OUTSIDE!!!
But that is not a guarantee that I can grow one inside OR out.
~

And this, finally, brings me to the memories of my childhood.

My Mother loved roses, lilacs, peonies, bleeding heart, and gardenias....
and we had them all in our Connecticut home.

Our long driveway was lined every June all colors of peonies. I still tell the story of my Dad spraying the peonies with insecticide because they were covered in ants......

to my Mother's horror.

Evidently she did not pass the information on to Dad that these critters were, in fact,
helping the flower buds open.

That summer the driveway did NOT burst into color,
but my Mom DID burst into tears.

Many times.

Inside the house, Mom could not keep Gardenias for long.... hard as she tried.

And, boy, did she try.

It would be safe to say that I witnessed the tender care and then,

disposing of,

many,

many,

pots of gardenias.
They all would flower at least once.

A few had a second show...but all met the same end.

Now years later, I am swept back.
Instantly.

Because my first precious plant has bloomed today while I was
at the desk called CRAZY

and this one, glorious, no.......STUNNING flower has opened.

and the drama of the day has melted

and I close my eyes

and I know that Mom is doing the happy gardenia dance with me.

4 comments:

~Red Tin Heart~ said...

Rella, this post touched me so much. I am so happy your Gardenia bloomed for you.
Thank you for thinking of us. I have thought of you daily..
I look at my faerie house daily. I love it.
Sending you love, Nita

Sherri said...

Lovely flower & great memories! Thanks for sharing & for the kind comments when you visited my blog.

Maija said...

Your post hit home for me- gardenias were one of my mom's favorites!

Cindy Dean said...

Loved this post! I am happy your flower bloomed for you. A sign perhaps...