Join me today as I link up with our host The Propagator and a plethora of other gardeners around the world who each post pictures of six things going on in their respective world of gardening. Six things, in the garden, on a Saturday. This week, I decided to show you how I share the beauty of the garden God has blessed with floral abundance.
For as long as I’ve been gardening, Momma always enjoyed it when I shared a little sampler of what was going on in my garden. Last Spring I began bringing her a little bouquet whenever I visit her at BeeHive, her assisted living home. I always put her flowers in her little blue vase she had hanging for years over her kitchen window…you can see the little holes where a rope once looped through to make it a hanging vase. I’ve long since removed the rope, but love this sweet little thing – something I would like to keep as a treasure to remind me of my mom.
Sadly, Alzheimer’s has a way of sucking the joy right out of the things that used to bring Mom pleasure and delight. Mom didn’t seem to enjoy my floral bouquets anymore. One day I decided I’d put her little bouquet on the table where she and 3 or 4 other residents enjoyed their meal. The sheer delight of her friends splashed joy all over me.
It dawned on me that there were two more tables with residents who would love a jar filled with a little floral joy at their table too. The next day, and nearly every day since, I picked a few more flowers and a few little “filler” bits from my garden — three stems of each type of flower or filler. When I arrived at BeeHive to visit Mom, I arranged three nearly identical little bouquets — one for each table.
Oh, what joy the simple bouquets bring!
Flowers leave some of their fragrance in the hand that bestows them. ~ Chinese proverb
Barefoot Lily Lady 
Beautiful!
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Your mother’s hanging vase is a keeper. Love that deep blue. Your bouquets are gorgeous. The other residents undoubtedly enjoy having them on the tables. Are there any days that your mother recognises their beauty?
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Yes, occasionally. In fact, just today, she looked up and saw the bright pink hibiscus flower that I included in her table’s bouquet and said, “Oooh, that one is gorgeous.” I told her I brought the flowers for her to enjoy and that they were from my garden. She said, “You must have a beautiful garden. I’d like to see it some day.” So sweet.
Yes, I do love that vase. Since it holds little meaning to her now (if any meaning at all), I should probably take it home and exchange it for another small vase. I would hate to see it get broken. It’s just a vase, but it holds more than flowers for me – there are memories too.
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