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On a warm sunny afternoon in many gardens around the world, you will find Granny's of all shapes and sizes relaxing in the midst of flowers great and small.
Drive through any neighborhood in any town and you are bound to see her. Her name will be different but to most in the area, she is simply Granny. She will always have her big sunhat on, the cord swinging loose as she moves around her gardens. Her spade is well worn, covered in scratches and dirt. It is nearly always in use.
If I were to see this Granny in my area, she would no doubt be wearing flip-flops instead of tennis' or gardening boots. This is the south, after all. Land of beaches, sand, sun, humidity and unbearable heat, and we do not like to wear shoes that make us hotter than we already are.
Photo courtesy of cohdra at MorgueFile
Photo courtesy of xenia at MorgueFile
Back to Granny. This sweet woman will invite you in, give you a glass of ice tea and insist that you take it to the porch. This, so that you may enjoy the gardens, she will tell you. You oblige, because there is no better spot to sit and visit with Granny than right there on the porch where you can view all her gardens.
Here's a porch swing that looks well used.
Photo courtesy of taliesin at MorgueFile
And another comfy swing to relax in.
Photo courtesy of click at MorgueFile
Let me tell you about one such woman. I knew her as Granny Mae. She lived in the same house from the time she married her husband until the day she passed. They raised a family, went to church, worked jobs and lived a good life with little in the way of worldly possessions.
Granny Mae had outlived her husband by about ten years. She never remarried, the reason, she said, there was no use in it.
She kept herself busy with her grandchildren, church, sewing and her gardens. She loved to work in her gardens. She had created several areas in her yard that would be called, "Garden Rooms," today. Back then, it was just what she did to have a place to relax and enjoy a bit of privacy.
Granny Mae started out with a sandy, weed-filled yard when she and her husband were first married. She spent a lot of time gathering cuttings, bulbs and seeds from family members and friends so that she could have flowers in that sandy yard. Ultimately, she turned it into what she referred to as her little piece of paradise.
Isn't this a sweet spot to relax?
Photo courtesy of taliesin at MorgueFile
A Bleeding Heart could be found in a cottage garden.
Photo courtesy of KevinRosseelat MorgueFile
Most of her gardens were cottage type gardens. She liked for things to appear ‘out of wack', she said. She had shrubs like azalea, gardenia, hydrangea, butterfly bushes and sweet shrubs. There were lovely trellises and arbors covered with vines, all around the yard. Climbing roses, morning glories, jasmine and passion vine were just a few of the vines she tended. She also had beds filled with daisies, marigolds, zinnias, mums, geraniums, petunias, salvia, hollyhocks and numerous other flowers I can't remember the names of. She had herb plants mixed in with the bulb beds. She said, once her iris', and other bulbs gave out, the herbs would fill in the area nicely. Granny Mae had jalapeno peppers and tomato plants in with the flowers. There was squash and small cucumber vines right alongside the flowers, too. About that, she said, "there's no reason to go hoeing up another plot just to put my vegetables in, when I have all this here space already fixed up."
Sitting on her porch chatting with her was always fascinating. She was full of stories from her childhood. Stories of raising her children and of course, the stories of how her gardens came to be.
She kept her flip-flops in a little metal bucket on the porch and when she'd get comfortable for a long chat, she would kick them off and almost always land them in that bucket without ever having to get up from the swing. The spade was kept in the same bucket as her flip-flops and her hat hung on a hook above the bucket, beside the door. She had kept these three things in the same place for as long as I knew her.
L-Photo courtesy of jusben at MorgueFile
B-Photo courtesy of PercyPants at MorgueFile
Here are two examples of cottage gardens. These are people that love to garden but aren't bound by the 'rules'.
Granny Mae has been gone for many years now. Her house and beautiful gardens are also gone. They were bulldozed to make room for a growing city to expand. She would be heartbroken if she were around to see it. I wish I had known more about gardening and had a desire to do it back then. I would have gotten pieces of her plants so that her gardens would have lived on in my own yard.
I will always remember Granny Mae as a sweet woman that cared about other people and one who poured everything she had into her gardens. She loved to share with others and even though her home is gone, the lasting affect she had on those who visited with her is still apparent in large and small way in their lives.
Why not stop in and visit your neighborhood ‘Granny Mae', share with her and learn from her.
Photo courtesy of sideshowmom at MorgueFile
Happy Gardening~
All photographs courtesy of photographers at MorgueFile Thumbnail photo courtesy of taliesin.
About Jacqueline Cross
I'm a native Floridian...feet planted in the shifting sands of northwest FL. but my heart strings are tightly knotted to the hills of Tennessee.
I live my poodle, Minnie Pearl, Zsa Zsa the cat who runs the whole show and a new addition, Kitty Belle.
I'm a writer, gardener, quilter, cross stitcher, soapmaker and nature lover. Mother to 3 wonderful daughters & Nana to 6 perfect grandchildren.
I also write for Suite101 and was promoted to Feature Writer in the vegetable gardens section in 2008.
Posted by Mima56 (from Thayer, MO) on August 12, 2008 at 2:58 PM:
Your sweet article brought to mind several 'grannies' I have known through the years, though I even have to include my father in that group! He grew up in a tenement house in the city but got a love of flowers from visiting his grandmother on a farm. So, wherever we lived, we always had flowers, especially pansies! And hardly a fall passes that I don't still plant pansies along the driveway. My mother-in-law raised seven children on a farm during the depression, and I loved listening to her stories. The times may have been hard, but she loved the land and her gardens. Sadly, I tended to scoff at her 'olden ways' at the time. Now, I have gardens for my own grandchildren to wander and play in. Hopefully, they will have some fond memories in their futures! Thanks again.
...
Posted by libellule (from Fountain, FL) on August 12, 2008 at 4:46 PM:
Mima56,
I'm glad the article brought back good memories for you.
It's funny that it takes us so long to realize all those days 'back then' were filled with so much wisdom and it was all being shared with us.
Your father is proof that no matter where we live, the land and the beauty it shares calls to us.
You know, our grandchildren will probably scoff a bit too, but one day, down the road, they will remember our gardens & stories fondly.
Jackie
...
Subject: checked by the door
Posted by cathy4 (from St. Louis County, MO) on August 11, 2008 at 12:56 PM:
It dawned on me as I checked by the door, I have a big old straw hat hanging on a hook, an old "digger" and my pruners in a clay pot and really old birkenstocks sitting there waiting to go out. Does this mean I'm a Granny?
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Posted by libellule (from Fountain, FL) on August 11, 2008 at 1:18 PM:
Cathy,
You sound to me like most gardeners I know...Maybe we are all Grannys in the making, whether its the Granmother with a half a dozen grandkids of their own or the neighborhood Granny
:-).
...
Subject: Granny's Garden
Posted by patpenney (from Crossville, TN) on August 11, 2008 at 9:36 AM:
Jackie,
Thank you for another walk down memory lane. I have known and appreciated several granny's in my youth. Enjoyed their gardens and of course the tea. But, looking back now I miss the wisdom that they shared most. I think our youth of today are missing out on so much, unless they too know a granny mae.
Please keep them coming
Pat
...
Posted by Dennis_Kathy (from Reidsville, NC) on August 11, 2008 at 11:47 AM:
Mrs. Ensley was my neighbor. She had pansies and beautiful rosebushes. I'm sure she had more, but those are what I remember. I knew her when I was a little girl. She always showed me the faces in the pansies. I still look for them, today. My sister and I liked to have tea parties. She always invited us in. We had tea in china cups with mint gumdrops in the bottom. I haven't hought about her in years, but your story took me right back. thank you for sharing.
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Posted by libellule (from Fountain, FL) on August 11, 2008 at 2:58 PM:
Pat,
Thanks and yes, I miss the wisdom of some I've known also. I just wish I had been aware enough 'back then' to have soaked it all up. I have alot of questions now that I would like to ask them, the Granny's of yesterday....
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Posted by libellule (from Fountain, FL) on August 11, 2008 at 3:01 PM:
Kathy,
Those are such a sweet memories. I'm glad the article brought them back to you. Memories that bring a smile to our hearts are the most precious.
Jackie
...
Subject: granny garden
Posted by tabby7 (from Alford, FL) on August 11, 2008 at 8:46 AM:
I am a confirmed granny gardener and my garden is not very far from yours. I have some lovely white ginger lilies and pink crinums I would be happy to share with you.
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Posted by libellule (from Fountain, FL) on August 11, 2008 at 1:29 PM:
Tabby,
You are only about fifteen minutes from me! One of my daughters lives in Cottondale and I go through Alford often. We'll have to get together one day soon.
I'd love a pink crinum, I have white ones but no pink. My gardens are quite pitiful at present but I'm happy to share what I have.
J
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Subject: Shared your memory
Posted by Hemophobic (from Kannapolis, NC) on August 11, 2008 at 8:16 AM:
Jacqueline: I read your article about Granny Mae and can relate to it, being raised in the South. We lived with my own Granny until I was 15, so she was more like my mother. Had a houseful of family coming and going and a big, wide front porch where we strung green beans for Sunday dinner and then usually ate that dinner on the front porch in the summertime. No air conditioning back then, so it was nicer outside. From that porch we watched summer thunderstorms unless they were really bad and forced us inside off the metal porch furniture. We grandchildren swung in the porch swing and drove the adults crazy one summer singing "Found a Peanut." I ran naked across that front porch and greeted the insurance salesman when I was about 3 or 4 and my mother has never let me forget about that!
Oh, the memories you evoked.
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Posted by libellule (from Fountain, FL) on August 11, 2008 at 1:24 PM:
Hemophobic,
Thank you for sharing your memories. The front porch is still a special place for family to gather.
I'm glad you enjoyed the article. :-)
