Rosa ‘Old Blush’ is a fitting beginning for a tribute to all mothers on this day set aside in the US to honor them.
This holiday is bittersweet for me.
Rosa ‘Veilchenblau’ is just coming into bloom, as are many of the other old fashioned roses grown here.
Rosa ‘Moonlight’ is a climber that is the favorite. It is not the prettiest, or fanciest or most colorful. But it does produce the most blooms throughout the year, is sweetly fragrant and carefree.
Growing up in Oklahoma, my next door neighbor was an elderly woman with a large garden. She would give me bouquets of whatever was blooming to take to school for my teachers. On Mother’s Day, she would give us different colors of roses to symbolize whether one’s mother was living or passed. White roses were for those whose mother was no longer living.
Moonlight is a white rose. That would be the color to represent the absence of my own mother. She died long ago when I was thirty years old. She was in Oklahoma and I was in Pennsylvania with three children of my own. It is a loss that can never be forgotten, even with my own joy of being the mother of four, the last born two years after her passing.
My mother was not a gardener. Her mother and sister, my grandmother and aunt were avid gardeners. The three of them shared the same favorite flower though, the rose. My mother loved red roses the most. Shown above is Rosa ‘Cadenza’.
Her favorite red rose was the hybrid tea R. ‘Chrysler Imperial’, above. Last year this rose was spotted for sale and planted in her memory. It has graced us with its first bloom of the year on Mother’s Day.
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Happy Mother’s Day to all of the mothers out in the blogdom, and to their own mothers, and their own mothers and even to their own mothers.
Frances
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Last year in a post title ‘Post Frost’ we told the story of the purchase of R. ‘Chrysler Imperial’. Click here to see that post in its entirety. Below is the portion that explains the meaning of this rose for me.
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“Shown above, a sentimental purchase planted under the pines in the line of vision from my kitchen window over the sink, Rosa ‘Chrysler Imperial’. This pulls my strings on many levels. My father was a car buff. He liked all kinds of cars and especially liked to wheel and deal at the car dealerships. One of the most memorable cars he came home with was an early sixties palest green Chrysler Imperial, brand new, the top of the line, with tail fins that reached for the sky. It was a massive vehicle, impressive in its size, especially when used to give rides to a bunch of elementary school age kids to the movies. Oh baby. Many years later, as my mother was suffering from the final stages of cancer, my father bought five of the hybrid tea roses with the same name for her to enjoy. She loved the velvety petals, and the exquisite perfume
of this rose. The shared name of one of our many cars was just a bonus. When I saw this rose at Lowe’s, at first I couldn’t believe it was still in commerce. But there it was, even in bloom. It was planted about three weeks ago, and is still holding that bloom, even with the cold nights. I couldn’t not buy it, even though it goes against all our rules of rose buying, it is grafted, a hybrid tea,and not from a reputable rose grower. It is lovely.”
~~
F
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About me
My name is Frances and I am a lifelong gardener, having lived in various parts of the USA over many years. I am now gardening in USDA Zone 7a east Tennessee. From 2000 to 2014 I was gardening on a slope in a small town in Tennessee. I have been blogging about my gardens since December of 2007. Thank you for visiting!
The slope in spring
The slope in fall
The slope in winter
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Recent Posts
Visit The Hop Ice Cream Cafe When In Asheville, NC
The Hop~
640 Merrimon Ave.
or The Hop West
721 Haywood Rd.
Asheville, North CarolinaOlder Posts Of Interest:
The story of the day a throng of cedar waxwings descended upon the garden, shown in the header image. (2009)
How to Cut Back the Too Tall Late Summer Bloomers
An awkward title that explains about making those very tall asters, mums and others shorter by cutting them down by half in May. Now is the time! (2011)
A book inspires the growing of lilies from seed. (2009)
How ten lily bulbs became hundreds. (2010)
Did You Really Think I Bought All These Plants?
A rant about the mistaken thoughts of non-gardeners. (2009)
Lost Secret in the Bloedel Reserve
There was something hidden in the forest and we were lucky enough to be able to see it. (2011)
Dreams turn into reality, in a way. The Green Man/Leaf Man faces live well in my garden now. (2011)
A yard without a lawn. (2010)
A history of all of the faire gardens and a couple of choice tidbits about me. (2009)
The Six Degrees Of Favorite Plants-Southern Living Blogathon
Very difficult to only pick your six favorite plants, some of us bent the rules a bit. (2009)
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Copyrighted Material
Oh, how sweet. I had never heard the meanings of colors on Mothers Day. Have a good day hun…..Brooke
I would be wearing a white rose too Frances. Happy Mothers day to you too.
I wrote about the color of flowers worn on Mother’s Day, too, Frances. Great minds, as they say. Your roses are beautiful and I just wish I could scratch the screen to smell them. My own mother is 79 years old and we will all gather to celebrate her today, just as I know your four children will be celebrating you today, Queen of the Faire Garden!
Happy Mother’s Day Mom. In my garden, you are the Magic Carpet Spirea. I know it isn’t your favorite; but it was one of the first flowers you gave me and it has always been beautiful, year after year. I remember Great Aunt Elizabeth’s and Great Grandma’s garden. The flowers were so tiny and so many colors. I love you and you are a great mom; I am just a slow learner. Hope you have a great day. Much love & misses. CP
I do have to add (since Rose’s are the Mother’s day flower) the Blue Girl will always remind me of you and it growing in the corner by the back deck when we lived in PA.
Happy Mother’s Day to you too, Frances 🙂 What a touching post to go with your beautiful roses.
Lovely Post Frances to commemorate Mother’s Day… yours, and your mother’s. Very dear prose and beautiful rose photography. The fragrance and color in your garden must be heavenly. Happy Mother’s Day.
Ah, Frances. What a beautiful post. My mother died at just 59 (also from cancer), and the timing was especially poignant in relation to Mother’s Day, a story I’ll tell over at Poor Richard’s Almanac today. I’m most sorry one of your children grew up not knowing his or her grandmother, but I know you’ve kept her memory alive for all of them! And yes, ‘Chrysler Imperial’ rose is a keeper.
A lovely post, dear Frances. It’s been 37 years since my mother died yet I feel so close both in the garden & kitchen where she was happiest … as am I. With warm thoughts and hugs for a beautiful Mother’s Day.
An absolutely beautiful post, my dear friend…I don’t think we stop missing our Moms, no matter how long ago it’s been since we lost them. I reached for the phone this morning to call mine to wish her a Happy Day forgetting for just that moment she was gone.
I suspect that the Chrysler Imperial Rose will thrive in your garden, despite its limitations as a grafted, tea rose…it just will! Thank you Frances for sharing your beautiful flowers and memories with us today. xxoogail
Happy Mother’s Day to you Frances. Roses are so wonderful to remember loved ones-always.
Frances,
What a lovely post in honor of Mother’s Day. Your roses are absolutely beautiful. They bring back fond memories for me, too, as I remember strolling around in my mother’s rose garden. I was too young then to appreciate her green thumb – wish I could take a walk through it now. 🙂 Happy Mother’s Day!!
It’s good you bought the rose Frances, no matter that it’s grafted, not reputable, etc. Some things are meant to be. You shared some beautiful memories with us this Mother’s Day. A Mother is truly irreplaceable, just as you are to your children. I hope you have a beautiful day.
What lovely roses. My dad, too, was a Chrysler man, and I remember the pale gray with aqua fins he came home with in ’57. It is so nice you have a rose in your garden to celebrate your mom. I hope you have a great Mother’s Day, Frances.
Jan
Always Growing
Happy Mother’s Day! Your roses are beautiful. What a nice way to be reminded of you Mother in your garden, and how special it bloomed for you today.
Happy Mother’s Day Frances…. What a beautiful tribute to your Mom! Although she is not there with you, I know you have wonderful memories of her to take you through this day. Your roses are beautiful!
Happy Mother’s day!!you have got the most amazing shots and beautiful roses blooming in your garden!
What a lovely tribute to your mother Frances. Have a Happy Mother’s Day! Your roses are glorious today. 🙂
How absolutely beautiful! I just wish I could smell them. Happy Mother’s Day.
Happy Mother’s day, Frances!
In Sweden we celebrate mother’s day at our anniversary, the 31st this year. I thought it was the same day everywhere! I also would be wearing a white rose, loosing my mum in cancer when I was 31. A lovely the tribute to your mum!
I’m also a member of the white rose crowd (my roses are behind yours; nothing’s blooming yet, but I noticed buds on my Sally Holmes (creamy white) today. I’m sorry you lost your mother so early; it was hard for me to lose mine in my 40s, I can’t imagine what it would have been like to lose her at 30.
Have you thought of taking cuttings off your Chrysler Imperial so that you can have own-root roses? They graft them commercially for severe-winter places and sometimes disease resistance, but I’ve had good luck rooting cuttings and letting them grow out.
A lovely post on many levels.
What a lovely heartfelt post Ms. Frances. And sometimes we’re blessed with a plant that although may not have been born into fame, nonetheless outperforms and perhaps even outblooms, all the rest. Peace to you and a most happiest of all Mother’s Days to you!
Perfect blooms and the perfect flower for this post.
Rob
What I enjoy so much are the stories that come with the flowers and the gardens! That first photo is particularly striking. The petals and layers look so close I feel I could touch them through the screen.
Brenda
Happy Mother’s Day to you also!
Happy Mother’s Day, and Grandmother’s Day to you. My ‘Moonlight’, which I bought based entirely on yours and your daughter’s enthusiasm for it, has a cluster of buds, and so does ‘Veilchenblau’. Can’t wait to see them. I’ve been picking ‘Charlotte’ and ‘Jude the Obscure’ for a few weeks.
What a wonderful post! Your roses are beautiful. I am so lucky to be able to spend so much time with you . You are a wonderful mother and great example for all of us. I wish I was more like you in so many ways! Love you always !! Semi
Frances:
Reading your post made the eyes mist over as I picked up the phone to call my Mom. My Grandmother was very much a ‘grand’ mother to me and I especially miss her when I think of the climbing roses that adorned her white clapboard house with the dark green trim…. they climbed at all four corners…. if I close my eyes and concenrate hard enough, I can smell their perfume….. a wonderfully heart-felt tribute. Happy Mother’s Day my friend!
happy mother’s day frances. what a lovely way to remember your mother and your father. great story of your life…thank you for sharing it.
What a lovely story, Frances. And what lovely roses! I can almost smell their fragrance.
What a beautiful post. I hope you had a great day (and have a great week).
It is lovely Frances, and it smells so good. I know it goes against all of our rose rules, but it doesn’t go against the rules of the hears. BTW, you won the rain chain on Mother’s Day. Can’t wait to see where it graces your garden.~~Dee
a lot of memories were conjured up after reading this post. most notably the several occasions i would follow you around the herb garden in kingsport sniffing the mints and thyme and asking questions about bugs and butterflies and the huge blooming rhododendrons behind the arbor. it was in the cards for me to be a gardener. i’m glad you passed along that desire. happy day after mother’s day from me, mashley, and gardoctor to you, semi, and chickenpoet.
An endearing post Frances with glorious blooms to celebrate Mothers, those here and those who live on in our hearts.
What a touching post. I miss my Mom too.
Catching up a bit today. Your gardens are looking great! All that rain is doing things justice with wonderful growth! All looks great from the Rain drops on the blooms, new bench at Biltmore, the kids and family to the daredevil kitty to the beautiful Roses on Mothers Day! And you had me wondering why the pruning of the J maples but once completed, I see why. The Saint would not be up for pruning, I still cannot talk him into pruning that one funny cypress tree branch…
A poignant post wrapped in roses, Frances.
Donna