Back to Family Memories Index Altheas, Tiger Lilies and Grandfather's BeardAt our Willow Creek mini-farm in the 1970's our yard was mostly pine trees and Charleston grass with a few azalea bushes in front and a weeping willow in back. Sparse, I thought, so I decided to add at least one of every bush and tree I'd ever liked in somebody else's yard. With my wish list in hand, early one spring I visited a local garden shop. But the lady shook her head; she was sure they didn't have any althea bushes. Perhaps a rose bush would do? I told her no, I'd had my heart set on an althea. Okay, how about a bridal wreath spirea? "What's a spirea?" I said it would look something like a miniature weeping willow except that the long arching branches would be covered with tiny white flowers during blooming season. Such graceful plants, they always had a calming effect on me just to look at them. Surely the shop had a spirea or two? No, I'm sorry, she apologized. I wrinkled my nose as I put an X by spirea on my list. I knew it was a long shot, but I asked if she'd ever heard of a handkerchief tree. She hadn't, and I myself had only seen one in this area, in a yard way out on Paul Jones Road. It was a beautiful medium-height tree sprinkled with large droopy white flowers. But of course, the shop had no handkerchief tree either. Since then I've learned that they don't usually survive this far south. A friendly neighbor offered us a catalpa tree but I politely declined. "We don't fish enough to make it practical." Many country fishermen planted catalpas to attract fishing worms, actually caterpillars that they picked off the trees like some kind of fruit. Ugh. No thanks. Recently I researched the availability of some of my long-admired but never-owned plants and discovered I could purchase a grandfather's beard tree, a tiger lily, an althea and even a handkerchief tree, all over the internet. I downloaded photos to use as screen-savers on my computer. One or two of them even come in brand-new 2007 "varieties" � plastic or silk � but it just wouldn't be the same. After this column came out in the News Journal on July 4, 2007, Olin McDaniel of Florence emailed me several photos (including the one above) that he'd just taken of a Tiger Lily here in town. Many thanks to Olin for these beautiful pictures. They look just like I remember growing in Mimi's garden. |