Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Forsythia for Memories

When the forsythia bush in our yard blooms brightly, nostalgic memories of my childhood, as well as building this home, come to mind. Both are connected because the flowers bloom from the same parent bush.
After my family and I built and moved into this New Hampshire home, my dad decided we needed forsythia from the farm where I’d grown up in the Hudson River Valley of New York State. He dug up shoots of forsythia to plant here. We even have photos of Father and Jim planting this bush 27 years ago.

Forsythia of Childhood

I relate to my daughter and grandchildren tales about the forsythia of my childhood, from which our bush originated. That original bush was located at the end of the wrap-around front porch of our farmhouse. It grew very large and generally had many blooms. Mother often brought branches inside to brighten the house.

When my parents moved to a smaller house across the highway, Father transplanted some of the forsythia to that front yard. It must have been a hearty bush for it did well there, too, providing bright spring color.

At one time, we thought the transplant to NH wasn’t going to survive. So our daughter and her husband bought another forsythia for me one Mother’s Day. This, too, grew into a large bush and has many bright yellow blooms this year.

Forsythia Evokes Memories

Forsythia was’t my favorite flower, although I’ve always enjoyed the spots of sunshine it presented around the countryside in spring. However, because of the memories these bushes evoke in my present yard, it has much more meaning nowadays than exotic or expensive flowers.

Do you have favorite flowers that bring back memories? Is there a flower of significance in your life that will create memories for future generations?

“Why not make an album of favorite flowers and write down your memories?” a friend suggested. That’s a thought that has me looking through my scrapbooking supplies to create a floral memory album.


 
(sxc.hu image)