When I see blooming moss in summer, I think of my great grandmother. She and my grandfather didn't have much. They were in their late 80s, living in a three-room house. It was built of second-hand pine and listed a little to starboard when the power company hooked their house to the electric grid.
They were on social security, living from check to check, but one thing she did have an abundance of was flowers.
During the spring and summer months, her porch looked like a rustic botanical garden. She had flowers planted in most any container that held dirt. Someone had made planters from old car tires.
They'd cut the edges in a way that when turned inside out, the container looked like a lower itself.
She'd totter down creaking steps into the yard each morning before sunrise, pulling weeds and deadheading petunias. There were many plants she couldn't name except with the old names used by her mom.
My favorite flower was blooming moss. She had an old coal scuttle that served as a hanging basket and the moss draped over the edges. The blossoms looked like candy.
I found this photo I'd taken last summer of blooming moss and and it triggered the memory of my great grandmother.
Never heard of blooming moss but the picture is sure beauriful. The Grands sound like my kind of people. (liked the starboard line)
ReplyDeleteGosh, your Grandma knew the essence of living a quality life----flowers, simplicity and surrounding herself with nature. Loved the tires, too. wonder what they painted them with. Susan
ReplyDeleteMemories keep the ones we love alive in our hearts and minds!
ReplyDeleteWhen something triggers a memory of my grandparents, I feel so warm and happy. They never had much either, but their garden was something to sing about.
ReplyDeleteYour great grandma sounds like me. I may not have alot but I always have tons of flowers. :)
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that moss could bloom. As usual, you've taught me something beautiful.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
This is one of my wife's favorite flowers. She plants some every year. We have stacked tires to make raised beds, but I wish I had known about your grandparents artistic was of cutting and shaping them!
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that moss could bloom either!!
ReplyDeleteOh how pretty and I have not heard of this either
ReplyDeleteI'd never heard of this moss... but I'm captivated all the same!
ReplyDeleteUnlike me, my daughter-in-law has a wonderfully green thumb and recently turned their frontage into an explosion of color. Why? She commented, "With all the sadness in the world I decided to plant flowers that make me happy."