So hot in fact that I took off my farm trousers half way through the day and dug out my short farm skirts. It was delicious to free my legs again.
Daisy made no comment, other than politely asking for sunglasses to protect her delicate eyes from the blinding white of my pale legs.
The shadowy areas of each field were once more populated by panting sheep.
And the barn flock sought the shade of the big mulberry trees.
Charlotte smothered herself in suntan lotion.
And the Big Dog retired to his favourite cool sheltered corner in amongst the drying firewood under the cherry trees.
And the peony began to bloom.
Good morning. The old people tell me that the pioneer women brought the peonies across in the wagons. This root is so hardy that they would wrap a plant in damp fabric and it would survive for months in the back of a wagon. What they carried in the wagons was only what was absolutely essential so I have always smiled at these beautiful scented cherished plants being carefully carried across this vast landscape by those courageous women. The plants are very hardy and once established will last for years and years, decades. I have seen quite a few planted in the very old graveyards around here. In the old days the woman’s relatives would bury her and then plant her favourite peony from her own garden beside her. Every single one I have is from someones garden and can be traced back through the generations.
Good morning. When I was a young woman my aunt gave me a root of rhubarb that her grandfather had brought out to New Zealand from Yugoslavia, I grew his rhubarb in every single house I lived in (shifted along with all my roses) until I left the country. If I were to smuggle something out it would have been that plant. The rhubarb I have now comes from the garden of an old lady who died in a town close by. I heard that the new owners were going to get rid of the garden and did not mind if I came in and took what I wanted. I dug for days, as you can imagine, bringing home buckets of treasure. So I don’t know the story of the rhubarb I have now. But it is delicious. And I often think of the old lady I never knew who left it for me.
Have a lovely day.
your friend, celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
62 responses to “Hot right to the bones”
I think plants with a story are my favourites, a snippet from here and there and the stories that go with them.
Lovely, lovely sunshine and good to see the piggies are practising beauty care
So cool to hear about the history of my own country Celi! Thank you! I love the stories from your old-timers that you share with us. Looks like we need to get some peonies, that’s for sure! xo
It’s breathtaking how fast you went from frozen to hot. Wow. Yowza. I always feel almost indecent (in the best, funnest sense of the word) when short skirts or shorts go on for the first time. So funny and delicious.
I felt a little exposed! I know exactly what you mean!! c
Ata girl Celi. I have rhubarb from my dad’s cabin, peonies from my grandmother’s garden transplanted over four houses since her death and my grandfather’s bleeding hearts from 1972 and I can’t even count the gardens I moved those across! That’s the way to do it. 🙂
I love bleeding hearts, i must go out to the garden mine are in and weed them right this minute, and be thinking of your garden while i am doing it! how wonderul to have your grandfathers! c
Yay, you have your lovely weather back – good to see Charlotte is being sensible about her sun care routine. 😉
Peony’s sound like the most wonderful “historical” plants – I love the history you shared about them and how lovely you have taken over the rhubarb – please send me some – it is Pete’s favourite!
Have a super day Celi.
🙂 Mandy xo
What great history behind the flowers and plants you have.
And the picture and sentence about Charlotte made me laugh right out loud! I have a soft spot for pigs, I think them clever, cute, and full of personality.
Pass along plants! What would garden be like without them. I have seeds that came from plants that made seeds on the travels from Pennsylvania, to Ohio, to Kansas and then Colorado. I love pass along plants in any form.
Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
Our neighbours were gettin rid of their beautiful lily of the valley, so I asked if I could have them and they happily agreed. That was in my old house; I have some in this garden too, but I have no story about them.
My dear Mom planted a Maple tree from seed and it grew to about 20 feet in our first house, I wish I could have brought it to this house; it must be 40 feet by now!
I love the traveling plant/flower memories. And the memories of farm wives/girls in swirling cotton dresses and skirts – warm summer memories from red dirt farms.
It does seem like someone had their hand on the “summer weather” switch – it’s being flipped back and forth right now here – trying to enjoy what cool is left – blazing sun isn’t far away!
Have a nice day!
I love how each group has their own favorite place. Charlotte always makes me smile. Yay for rhubarb!
You’re making me jealous with all that sunshine in those photographs. All we’ve got over here in England at the moment is cold winds, rain and in some places even snow – still! Great post.
I do hope you get some warmth over there soon, it seems that europes summer needs a bit of a kick start! welcome to The Comments Lounge sophie.. c
So many people we’ve never known, whose treasures we now cherish–plants, buildings, ideas . . . we are fortunate in ways we seldom notice and remember, fueled by previous generations we rarely think to acknowledge . . .
Rhubarb, peonies, and lilacs – When we lived on the prairies we would drive past abandoned farms. Frequently the only mark of their previous existence would be these plants growing around farm houses that at disappeared into the ground. I would feel a little sad thinking of the women, long gone, who had planted their dreams in this hash land. Virginia
and poppies, i have seen poppies in the ditches where there once was a house, Lilacs are the outhouse give away!! fantastic.. i had better get out and start weeding.. all this talk of plants makes me long to work in the garden.. I know I do it every day, but it is like a time out time! c
How wonderful you were able to salvage the plant treasures in the woman’s yard! I cringe when I see someone clearing a yard for new landscaping. I always wonder what precious plants are being trashed on a whim.
I can’t imagine peonies surviving on wagon trips across the country. Iris are so common on old homesteads in this area that I wonder if their rhizomes came by wagon, too?
My maternal grandparents had several peony plants. My grandmother would cover jars with foil, pour some water in the jars, and cut peony blooms to make flower arrangements. They’d take them to the cemetery to decorate graves on Memorial Day. She absolutely hated artificial flowers. I feel guilty when leaving silk flowers on their graves, but I hate to think of cut flowers withering away 😦
Amazing isn;t it, the peonies and i think you are right about the iris, I have quite a few i have dug out of peoples gardens! they are everywhere here.. and just heading up tooo! c
I love heirloom plants. I have the last remaining of my great-grandmother’s hens and chicks. It is not happy, and I’m trying to save it. I also have a fern that was grown from spores from a flower arrangement at my grandmother’s funeral. We planted our first peony this year. Nothing yet, but it was only a bit of root to begin with. I can be patient.
the peony will actually take a few years to establish and flower but you can grow them from root cuttings so it should be oK.. fingers crossed, i love the fern from your grandmothers funeral, we have a hydrangea from johns brothers funeral that keeps coming back and is PINK, which always makes me laugh as i am not into pink plants at all! c