Flowers in a garden that evoke fond memories from childhood

Every Sunday (in season) mum dad and I would go and pick primroses up on the hills. Happy carefree times and I can never see a primrose without thinking of them both. When mum died a couple of years after dad we dug up a fuchsia from her garden and planted it in ours. We’ve moved three times and always taken it with us. Every year it flowers beautifully and I always say it’s mum looking down on us. She died 36 years ago. Loved them both to bits and miss them every day.

There was a field of lupins at the back of my childhood home. Even now I remember walking through it and drinking the rainwater that had collected in the leaves. I must’ve been quite small because I vividly remember the lupins being taller than me.

This is indeed a lovely thread. For me, it is cowslips, dog toothed violets and primroses, all wild flowers that I used to pick (it was allowed then!) on our holidays at Easter in the Coswolds.

And daffodils because it was our school flower, and we used to process with them, all 800 of us, on Founders Day, the smell was amazing and a bunch of daffodils still takes me back to my schooldays.

MaizieD

Pixie Caps (Californian Poppies).

They self seeded in our garden and we used to love pulling the 'pixie caps' off.

Mind you, I dislike their orange colour and I wouldn't have them in my garden now...

You can get seed for cream California Poppies, it’s called Ivory Castle. I often grow them in pots in my front garden and they look lovely.

When I started work on the checkout at b&q so many memories flooded back when certain plants came through, both sights and smell. I'd never gardened myself but started buying plants that provoked the memories and now have a lovely garden 5 years later (I am 70)

Nasturtiums rioting all over my Dad's compost heap every year. We used to be fascinated at the warmth deep inside the compost heap and push our hands right inside, completely unaware of the living community in there! ????

My mum always bought me yellow roses so now I always think of her when I see them. My granda grew all colours of chyrsanthemums in greenhouses for the displays for church on a Sunday, so they bring back memories of me helping him, as a child, to grow them.

Kim19

Puzzler, snap on Super Star. That was my chosen rose for my wedding bouquet. December so they had to be imported. I have one in my garden but it's getting tired after all these years. Keep going to replace it but sentiment holds me back. Nice to know someone else has heard of it.

Super Star is a bright scarlet colour isn’t it? If yours is getting tired you could try giving it a good prune next March, but too late this year. Take out all dead wood then cut the rest back quite severely to an outward facing bud. Give it a feed if blood fish and bonemeal and hopefully it will be rejuvenated.

The scent of Philadelphus takes me straight back to childhood, we had one next to the back door. I’ve tried to grow my own but they always seem to fail.
My other abiding memory is of primroses and sweetly scented violets growing under the hedgerows on our farm. Gorgeous.

For a special occasion when my daughter was young, I had an afternoon tea at my home for about 20 people and put small pots of African violets on each table as a take-home gift for my guests. I had quite a few left over so had shelves built in the window of my kitchen for them and they looked lovely. Later when my marriage broke up and I moved abroad I had a photo framed of the window and flowers and it has always adorned my kitchen, no matter where I live. Very happy memories.

Where I grew up on the coast of mid Wales Chapel was quite strictly not ornamental except for Harvest Festival. We were part of a farming community so Harvest was so important. Those memories of every windowsill and possible flat surface piled high in fruit, vegetables and flowers are so strong still. And most of all the wonderful smell and sight of glorious chrysanthemums, I adore them. Our little chapel was a big part of our childhood and family life, I loved the plain simplicity and sanctity, but for that one weekend it was fabulous.

I plant the flowers that I remember from childhood. Lily of the Valley, bluebells, roses, bleeding heart, monbretia (but not nasturtium or red hot pokers) as they were in my Mum’s garden and Fuchsia because my Auntie had them in her prefab garden. I thought prefabs were the height of luxury and her garden was beautiful. Every garden had privet hedges when I was young and for some reason I don’t like privet at all! ?

White flowers, pansies especially, remind me of my maternal grandmother. I had little to do with either set of grandparents, but white violets remind me of mother’s father too.
For me, it is roses which were as rare as hens’ teeth in my tropical island childhood.

Another precious memory was at The London Hospital, Whitechapel. Nursing staff, (except the sisters in blue with special long starched tails on their hats) wore purple uniforms, checked for the students and darker for the staff nurses, and on Christmas Day we were given dainty bunches of fresh violets. This still happened in the 70's, it was a wonderful thing. Probably long since stopped, but we felt so special and appreciated on duty on Christmas Day.
Hello to any girls from The League out there who remember this touching tradition.

Sweet peas remind me of the lady along the lane, whose husband used to grow prize winning sweet peas. We used to buy a bunch to give to any relatives that visited in the summer.
Pussy willow makes me think of my mother's step mum who loved a bunch of it in a vase so if we were visiting her, a walk to pick some was a must!
Primroses - when you could visit the nearest woods and take a bunch home - especially around Mothering Sunday when they were made into posies to be handed out at church.

Lily of the valley reminds me of my lovely Nana who died when I was 8 yrs old.They were her favourite and grew in her garden. Freesias remind me of my Mama, her favourite, and Roses remind me of my Granddad who grew several bushes in his corner plot garden.

Lily of the valley, wallflowers, antirrhinum and daisies full of ladybirds - where have they all gone?

and daffodils at school where there was a competition to grow the tallest.

Many flowers remind me of other people. Wallflowers because Dad said they reminded him of his own Mum, Sweet Peas because he grew them. Roses and Lily of the valley because my Mum loved them. I could go on and on and on. I simply love them all, their colours, their perfumes, the memories they evoke. Wonderful.

Wieird answer here. Specially as I'm a real gardener and wild-flower freak now. The ones that stick in my mind from childhood are Foxgloves, Dahlia, Hollyhocks - all because I was worried earwigs would be in them! Mum taught me coltsfoot, deadly nightshade, groundsel, shepherd's purse, rosebay willow herb - the flowers you'd see on bomb sites in the '50s.

Pansies. When I was little I used to pop the seed pods and scatter them all over my Nan’s garden. She had them absolutely everywhere.

My SisIL startled me years ago when they visited - the sweet peas were at an end and we left them to go to seed for next year.
She picked them and ate the 'peas'.

I've read since that they are poisonous

(She's still here)

My Dad was a keen gardener and grew sweet peas every year, when they were in season there was always a bunch in the house. He also grew dahlias, gladioli, nicotiana, asters and night scented stock. I used to love walking around the garden with Dad learning about all the flowers and vegetables.

sandelf

Wieird answer here. Specially as I'm a real gardener and wild-flower freak now. The ones that stick in my mind from childhood are Foxgloves, Dahlia, Hollyhocks - all because I was worried earwigs would be in them! Mum taught me coltsfoot, deadly nightshade, groundsel, shepherd's purse, rosebay willow herb - the flowers you'd see on bomb sites in the '50s.

We learnt about wild flowers and how to identify trees at primary school; one of my favourite flowers was cowslip and they have been introduced to local planted areas, it’s lovely to see them.

In my gran's garden:

A pink climbing rose and a cream climbing rose which both had amazing scents.

Wallflowers, deep reds and oranges.

Solomon's seal...rarely see that now.

Lily of the Valley...delighted to find them when I moved to this house

Gooseberry bush

Damson and plum trees

Cooking apple tree, a desert apple tree. I have always loved apple blossom, reminds me of her.

I was so fond of that little garden, she loved it. At her friends allotment we would pick lots of blackcurrants and gather blackberries on the way home.

Lilac takes me straight back to early childhood, we had a hedge of it round our garden. Also chrysanthemums that my dad grew very well, he would give them to anyone who visited. He had very little all his life but was happy to give to others.