Cannas, Memories of Mother

My Mother always grew a large vegetable garden. She grew and preserved huge quantities of food for the family. Mom loved to plant the little seeds and watch her garden grow. She grew green beans, sweet corn, beets, cabbage, broccoli sweet potatoes, squash, strawberries, lima beans, peas, tomatoes, and potatoes. She enjoyed shopping from the seed catalogues and was always trying new varieties. Even though she grew a large veggie garden she always found room to have flowers in it. She tended these with the same loving care that she gave her food bearing vegetable plants. Looking back I am sure that her flowers were food as well, food for her soul.



I learned my love of gardening from her. As a child I spent many hours with her in the garden and in helping her with the canning and freezing. During the summer it seemed she always had baskets of food from her garden sitting in the kitchen awaiting processing.



One of the flowers Mom planted in her garden was Cannas. She admired the large plants with their beautiful foliage.



Cancer took Mom from us nearly seven years ago. Mom was many things to me, my mother, my teacher, my mentor, my friend. She is gone but her memories and her Cannas remain.



Each spring I plant her Canna bulbs across the north end of my garden. As I plant them the memories of her come flooding back. Each time I look at the garden the sight of the Cannas reminds me of a most wonderful loving caring person.