10 August 2011

A message from my mother


Hoya Blossom, Charleston, S.C.

I don't bother with many plants anymore but I have a few hanging pots in my living room windows and always try to have a hoya plant. My Scottish grandmother was famous for the hoya that grew all the way along an arched opening between her sitting room and library and was heavy with blossoms every year. My mother had cuttings of her plant and when I went up for her funeral many years ago, I was handed a cutting of the original that she had been rooting for me. And, yes, I smuggled my third generation cutting across the border and home to Charleston.

The plants don't bloom very often but when they do they are amazing little bouquets of waxy blossoms. Check out the google image gallery of Hoya blossoms.

My original cutting bloomed for the first time on Mother's Day - the anniversary of my mother's death and for many years after on that date. I had a bad panicky time when that plant died after trying my best to nurse it back to health. Eventually I got another and this week I have a happy bloom. Hi mom! :)))

6 comments:

fragilewisdom said...

I didn't know that there were so many hoya. They certainly are beautiful.

How apropos that you plant bloomed on mothers day!

Namrata said...

The fresh flowers are a fitting reminder of your mother.If you remember,I had commented last year that although I had seen your mother only twice,her eversmiling face was still fresh in my memory.I know what it's like to lose a mother.Mine passed away exactly a month ago.She had passed away a few hours before I reached our hometown.But somehow I felt her presence in the garden which she had tended for decades.The sights of flowers and fruits,the buzz and chirps of winged creatures lessened the initial sense of void.May our mothers' rest in peace.

Kate said...

Namrata's comments stirred some similar thoughts in my mind. It's interesting how long a mother's death affects a person.

Checked your link and was surprised at the variety of hoyas.

Charlestonjoan said...

fragile & Kate - neither did I! This is the blossom I remember. I love some of the other ones as well. Too bad they take so long to bloom.

Namrata - My mother loved plants. School children in Mawlai used to bring her cuttings and she would plant them all. She would steal cuttings from famous gardens on our travels but she always broke down and confessed at the airport. It was funny.

Charlestonjoan said...

Namrata - I am very sorry for your loss. You have joined a sad club of those of us who have lost our mothers. My condolences.

Lucas Kain said...

Hoya... wasn't there a photo filter with the same name..?

___
call Nepal