My latest one is this Gladiola. I rescued it many years ago after being pulled up early because it always fell over.
It prospered but always had flaws. I liked the color but it had unsightly streaks and it always fell over.
Three years ago I stuck a couple in a holding area as a last ditch effort. Junk. The next spring I planted a temporary strawberry bed there. Some baby bulbs survived the winter, here they are 2 years later.
Got a story?
Andy P
That glad is beautiful.
My hostas that run along my shed are babies from my sil who got hers from her father who brought them to NJ from Ohio 50 years ago.
I was pregnant at the time and had to wait for hubby to dig the holes for me so the hostas sat in a rubbermaid bin with some water in the bottom for about 2 weeks till he got around to it...look at them now..
I had a perennial sweetpea planted on my arbor the first year I had it. That was at least 8 years or so ago. I replaced it with clems, but it seeded around here and there and I pulled it out when I found it. Every now and then another seed will find the light I guess and a plant would spring up. It has been several years now and I thought it was gone but then this am I noticed this high up on the 'Pinky Winky'.
Nice that it matches.
I was very surprised to see again. Do you know the name of the hosta? Do they have lavender or white blooms? They certainly look very happy.
Jen, those hostas are very attractive and well tended. Beautiful!
Very nice, Jen. The hostas look great. It's nice how good plants get passed down to the next generation.
Ngam, sweetpeas are tough except for me, lol. Someone up the street has them on a chain link fence, they look fine. I'd rather have clems, too.
Thanks for the anecdotes.
Andy P
Sorry, I don't know the name of the hosta, they have lavender flowers. They were so big this year must be a relation to sum and substance.
My mom had an old garden rose that she was given over 25 years ago (rumor has it the original came over on the Mayflower) it was a wonderfully frangrant once blooming pink. Before she moved from upstate New York to North Carolina last year she gave me a tiny sucker. I threw it in the ground and just left it to fend.
She took some with her too but her carefully potted, moved in the car, planted with care sucker didn't make it.
The little thing I threw in the ground came up this spring and has flourished and sent out a brand new sucker of it's own. I have become the keeper of the rose and in October when my mom and dad come to visit I get to hand her her heirloom rose and keep the current sucker for myself.
My mom is an amazing gardener and her roses have always been gorgeous. The new ones I sent her and the ones she has planted in her new home are thriving so I have every confidence that this time the rose will make it for her.
I have a peony that the original plant came from irisMA's GM's garden in Omaha,NE.
Bookreader451, that's the kind of story I'm looking for.
Thanks for sharing.
Great story Bookreader!
So thats what your looking for huh Andy?
Ok..... My Grandmother loved gardening and had 2 little plots at camp that she used in the summer. One was for veggies and the other was for her flowers. I spent the biggest part of the summer at camp so I helped tend those 2 beds. In the vaggie bed was all the veggies she would need to make us those wonderful dishes that I still dream about. ^_^
In the flower beds she had lily of the valley, iris's, johnny-jump-ups, roses, ect.... When I was 11 G.father had a stroke and was diagnosed with cancer, they held onto the camp for one more year then decided to sell it. Before selling it I went and dug up a few flowers to bring home to my parents house.
Later after I grew up and my Dad had passed away my Mom decided to sell the house. Before she did i was outside digging up those iris's & LOV to bring out to my house. I was 27 then, im 49 now....i've been taking care of these iris's for over 38 years and this was it this spring. Two of my DD's have piece's at their house's and they know the story. Nothing fancy or even pretty but it has HISTORY!!
My husbands Grandmother planted these roses in in 1898 at her house, after she passed on her daughter, my mother-in-law, transplanted them to her house accross the street, When she died I planted them back to grandmother house where we lived for over 50 years. When we sold the very old house we stated in the sale that the roses will be transplanted to our new house at the propper time of year. I did that, now they are here. I have no idea what they are called, but it is a huge shrub of beautiful blossoms, its heavenly scent is every where. Wish I could find the picture of the whole plant, I know it is some where, here are just two of them covered with dew
I love these stories. I hope someday my children or grandchildren will have a favorite plant from my gardens that they love and will want for themselves.
Great stories. Unfortunately here in NJ you are not allowed to dig your plants up before you move...I guess if you dig them up before you put the house on the market but the landscaping has to stay. I've heard lots of stories of yards getting dug up in the dark.
you can put that you are taking plants in the conditions of the sale... but I would still dig them prior
Some times you can't dig them if the sale is in the winter as this was the case in ours.
Thanks Pixie & Maria, great stories. The yellow/brown Iris is a favorite of mine.
I used to be in Real Estate. Plant issues are avoided by stating in writing what is excluded when placing the house on the market. Each state has it's own laws.
I got these Marigolds 24 years ago from a home I was selling. The owners had grown them for 20 years, saving seed each fall. They are the easies things to grow and put on a good late season show, these are just starting.
Andy P
All the pics are gorgeous and mercifully saved.
Love the roses Maria. So big and healthy. I cant grow Irises so am always jealous when I see them. Pixie those are a nice color. Marigolds were my first foray into growing anything. Those look huge!
those are pretty Andy
Always loved the marigolds but I buy them from the greenhouse, now I wonder if I should save their seeds?
I would have more roses but they need a lot of attention, this year was too much rain plus the J. Beetles that arrive in no time.
Jada, wondered why you can't grow roses?
Maria
For some reason Irises won't grow for me. I have had some success with Roses.
An elderly friend gave me some cuttings from her grandmothers rose bush. They were small dainty pink roses. I was able to root them and grow for one summer but they did not survive the winter. I was so disappointed . Probably never see those anywhere again. No telling how old they were.
I have some planted out front that do very well, they get more sun there, and I have some yellow rose vines that greet me every spring. I need to read up on them more.
I just assumed I was in the wrong zone for Irises,the iris pics on this forum are gorgeous.
Joyce
OOps, Joyce did not read that correctly, sorry you meant roses.
Jada, my experience with Iris is they don't like wet feet or acid soil. I tried a few near the gutter downspout ~ failed. I tried a few near a cedar tree ~ failed. Those out in full sun and neglected do fine. You can not plant them too deep, the top of the corm should be visible at ground level.
I have little luck with roses.
Andy P
Thanks Andy. So thats the problem! My soil is very acidic. I bought one at a nursery once because it was named Joyce something, Thomas, I think. I still have it. It is in a pot the same way I bought it, never grew, never bloomed, even after 3 years. I put it in a bigger pot. Nothing! Won't even die! :-)
I need to send it to someone who has luck with these so I can finally see what the blooms look like.
Joyce
Take it out of the pot and plant it in the ground. They need open space.
My story is an iris story also---my Gram was a great gardener---we lived in her house until I was 7, & I remember many of her flowers--I particularly loved the iris----but when we moved, my Dad didn't take any of her plants----I didn't know that my Aunt Sophie did---she planted a tall, fragrant yellow iris of Gram's at her house---when she passed, the house belonged to my Cousin Jim who lived in FL--he never sold his parent's home, & when he retired, came back to CT to live in it---he was rejuvanting the gardens, found the iris, & gave me a clump---
No go Andy, the ground soil is acidic.
Nice story Robin, great that you can retain a part of a precious memory.
I have really acidic soil too and my irises do fine.
I found this chart and it seems it depends on which ones you are growing.
http://www.draycott-gardens.com/cultureframe.html
My soil is very acidic---all my hydrangeas are blue---Blushing Bride looks like she's been poisoned with cyanide in my garden---but bearded irises grow just fine---they do like their sun, though.
I have peony poppy seeds that came poppies in Moo's garden, who got them from her Moo's garden in SK, who got them from her Moo's garden in ON, who got them from her Moo's garden in England. Before that I think they were in a cave.
DNut, That's some lineage. Got a pic?
The more I think about this subject, the more I realize my garden has history. The majority comes from gifts or trades.
These Pheasant Eye Narcissus where planted by a friends mother 50 years ago. I asked to dig up a cluster from the lawn 8 years ago.
Andy P
My girlfriend still plants "her mother's poppies" every year. Her mom saved the seeds and replanted each spring and now my friend does the same.
Sorry Andy I don't have a digital pic (shame on me). I will be sure to take a pic next year. They are a luvly frilly pastel pink.
What a nice thread, Andy! Such interesting stories!
We have a lovely, very old peony (pale pink) that has been passed down for many generations in my DH's family, beginning with his great, great grandmother. When his Mom had it, it was moved to several different houses she lived in. When his Mom died, he moved it to every house he lived in afterwards, and then we have moved it twice ourselves. It came home to the farm in 2003, but it didn't bloom this year, I believe because it was being choked by pachysandra that had spread around it. We dug out all of the pachysandra, and I'm hopeful it will bloom again in the spring. I'll try to find a photo of it in bloom, but I'm not sure I have one that is digital.
Wow! Love that history, & dedication to saving it---be sure to plant some at the grandkids' houses.
Wonderful story DB.
I agree, great story and hardy plant!!
I'll be interested to see if some of you think it may have been planted too deep. It has never had as many blooms on it as my other peonies, and it seems low to me in comparison. I know they are supposed to be planted at just the right height. I am lobbying to dig it up and replant it in the spring. I don't plant much now. I lost my After Midnight Echi over the winter from moving it too late.
