Begonia baskets in the UK
Once upon a time, a Mum had three sons. They all grew up in the same house but two of them, went away to live in different countries in the world. One went to study in the UK and stayed on there and one went to certify as a cardiologist in the US and he stayed on there. So, now what does a mother do when her babies have left? Pack her bags and go visit them twice a year!
“ Don’t you get bored when you go there?” I am asked over and over again. “ No! Never!” I respond. I have never been bored when staying at home anywhere in the world, because the garden keeps me busy and occupied. And ofcourse my writing and cooking.
Golden yellow British Iris in Tennessee
So how it all began was I saw many of the plants we have in our garden, in the hot houses in Kew. So, I decided to take a few plants with me to the UK and try them out there in my big sons massive garden. Sadly none of them really took off. Mum’s Ginger that the boys asked for. I carried it all the way and put it down and it never showed in the UK. I took the Thunder lilies that they as boys had grown up with, here in Hayes. Sadly no, they did not grow too. Nothing I took grew in the UK and it was a learning curve for both my son and me there.
Dainty Solomon's Seals all hanging like medallions below the stalk.
Here in India, you put a plant down and it grows and flowers and blossoms, through the year. There the winter kills off the seasonal plants and only the hardy perennials we learnt grew. Names we had never heard of -- Penstimons and hydrangeas in many colours, calla lilies and Stargazers, Phlox and Dianthus, Clematis, Fuschias and Solomon Seals. All new names which we learned to reel off our tongues and choose with care when we shopped for the garden. I particularly love British roses and they grow to an amazing plate size, which we never get here, except in the colder regions.
Then I decided to take what grew in the UK to the US. Once I took a tiny golden yellow Iris rhizome from David's garden which was not doing too well. Little did I know the Iris is the state flower of Tennessee and if you see it in my son’s garden there -- it looks like a golden resident. All the neighbours are envious of the flowers, which bloom even when the temperatures drop cause after all they are British!
My beautiful Aliana on her First communion day with the Iris
I have taken rhizomes and planted them all over the front and back yards and when my son sends pictures I cant stop laughing, cause they have truly blossomed and grown with their golden yellow blooms all over the garden. I took Mums Ginger lilies and those too have bloomed and grown from the very first year! Pure white scented blooms which I have shared with friends across Knoxville.
And then two years ago I took David’s Solomon Seals which were not doing great in his garden to Tennessee and low and behold, my son there is amazed at the beauty of the plant growing tall and splendid with its strange hanging medallion like flowers below the stem. Mum! Look at the flower you planted -- what’s it called he will FaceTime excitedly and I tell him Solomon Seals -- hail all hail, another British resident!
Azaleas I planted
It’s time for him to move states and homes and I am worried, I cannot visit because of Covid. My legs are tied or I would have been up and away for many months. I love going there and they enjoy my coming too. I pray I can go before they move states into their new home in South Carolina. Hoping I can take the Iris and the Ginger and the Solomon Seal with me! After all I cannot abandon them in Tennessee!
