Where Have All the Flowers Gone

Long time passing…
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago.

April brought no showers which made May short on flowers. I really like flowers. I just love how they look and smell. I just hate to get dirt on my hands! I know it’s one of those quirks, but anything ‘powdery’ on my hands just drives me crazy! I have to wash them almost immediately. Therefore, I can look but not plant. Not in real dirt anyway.

I can grow something!

Traveling back from Ruidoso the other day, we made a stop at Hondo Iris Farm. Every trip up or down the mountain I pass the sign with a longing look. This trip the timing was right, the iris were in bloom and we stopped.

A sample

Stepping into the yard took me back to summers at Grandmother and Granddaddy’s house. There were some daylilies but mostly iris. Most of them were in full bloom. The colors were magnificent and ranged across the spectrum. There were white ones and black ones. There were orange, yellow, pink and purple iris. There were maroon and dark red and coral ones. There was a picnic table in the middle of the garden and a group was celebrating someone’s birthday. I thought how nice it would be to be able to go outside in your yard and view the sea of color.

Some of the flower pictures I took

My grandmother was a gardener. She raised some vegetables and fruits but she really liked flowers, especially daylilies and iris. I was cleaning out some papers and ran across an article about her and her flowers. The article was interesting. It was talking about her daylilies. It said she had, at her best guess, over 4,000 plants. She said there were over 30,000 varieties that had been named and introduced and she had 200 named varieties. Many she had developed herself by cross-pollinating to create a new flower. She would sometimes let my sister and I cross-pollinate. Often the results were pretty but other times she didn’t like the look or the texture and she would throw it away. She was particular!

Grandmother and flowers

I don’t know the people who live in Grandmother’s house now. I pass by occasionally and wonder if there are still flowers behind the fence. And I think not, because you have to have a passion for such things. I think the passion for those flowers might have died when she did. If the flowers are gone I’m not sure the new owners know what they missed.

Where have all the flowers gone?

Girls have picked them every one.

When will they ever learn?

When will they ever learn?

Thinking of iris made me want to knit something purple. If I’m lacking on a color I guess it would be purple. I took a look but nothing struck me. I did finish the blue/green bias shawl...again. I like it this time. And I just remembered I'm working with some variegated yarn and it does have purple in it. It’s just easy television knitting.

My knitting friend, Beverly, made some cute knitted flowers that you hang on your luggage so you can see yours when it comes off the plane. I liked hers a lot. I guess since I can’t get dirt on my hands I can knit flowers!

What rhymes with purple?

Green and blue bias shawl.

Beads on the end of the fringe

Where have all the flowers gone?

When will we ever learn?

When will we ever learn?

Don’t You Remember A Long Time Ago…

I saw an Iris in bloom today and was reminded of my Grandmother. We had to call her Grandmother. Granny, Nanny, Gram…no, nothing else would do.

My sister and I used to spend time in the summer with Granddaddy and her at their farm in West Texas. It was surrounded by cotton fields and fruit trees. There were grape vines and all kinds of garden produce. The backyard was a patchwork quilt of flowers. Anywhere there could be a flower there was a flower. Day Lilies and Iris were Grandmother’s favorites and her specialty. She would let us pollinate and cross pollinate the day lilies in hopes a great flower would be created. The Iris would bloom and multiply, seemingly free will. People would come from all over the state to see her flowers and buy her bulbs. For many years Texas Tech University had Grandmother’s flowers on the grounds. There may still be some there.

She taught me to knit. Looking back, it was most likely in desperation to make me be quiet! But she taught me many things besides knitting. She read us stories and poems from the Childcraft books. To this day I can still recite some of the poems. She sang songs. When she didn’t know the last words she sang la la la. She showed us how to cook and sew. She taught us to play the piano and because she was always making some little something, instilled a love for creating in both my sister and I. She had time for us.


Grandmother’s first love was crochet. She made intricate doilies and won many prizes at the county fair. She was a good cook known for her Chiffon cake that she took to all of the community events. After raising her family she went to college. She graduated and became a teacher. She taught English and wrote a published book of poetry.


Grandmother was a lady. It took many years for me to realize all that she gave me. I miss her saying Christmas Eve Gift and lighting a candle on Christmas. I miss carrot and raisin salad and banana milkshakes. I miss the songs and the stories before bed. I miss dressing up to go to town. I hope she knows I thank her for all she did for me. I hope she knows I miss her and I love her.

Knit a year has been going well. I’m really enjoying it. The drive back to San Antonio had more wild flowers. It was a nice day and nice trip and I had sunshine in my heart. I added a yellow yarn. Saturday was the last day of class for my interns. We ate lunch together and had a nice time. There was a birthday party Saturday night. It was a beautiful day and a nice night. I chose a spring green with white flowers in the yarn for spring and for margaritas! Sunday was a blue day. It was a day with a lot of thinking, about some things, not so good. I chose a blue to fit the mood. Today I had two classes with the Texas Tech doctors. It was a good day. I chose a purple and gold yarn, called Iris, for Iris flowers and for Grandmother.


And when they were dead, the Robin so red,
Brought strawberry leaves and over them spread.
La la la la la, la la la la la. La la la la la la la la la la…