Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Wistful Wednesday : 1940’s

The end of summer is upon us.  All of the Dinner Plate Dahlias should have bloomed by now or having their last hurrah gracing kitchen tables with their bouquets.

Far Guys Paternal Grandmother was a wonderful flower gardener.  She had Lady’s Slippers growing next to her back step on the farm.

Scan0060 (2)

How tall was Grandma?  I have a photo of her and I together we are about the same height 5’7”.   So those Dahlias are at least five feet tall.  She must have had a whole row of them.  Grandma was a patient gardener.  Digging the bulbs, shaking off the dirt, making sure the bulbs were dry before storing them in the root cellar for the winter.  Planting them again the next spring and waiting for late summer for the blooms.

I grew Dahlias a few years.  Then one year the Fall got kinda winterish and the bulbs stayed in the ground…and froze:)

14 comments:

DJan said...

I love dahlias. That's a really good picture considering how old it is! :-)

linda m said...

My maternal grandmother was a super gardner. She could grow anything ,anywhere. If we had a sick plant we took it to grandma who nursed it back to health. She said the secret was she talked to her plants.

Primitive Stars said...

Morning, such a great old picture, love that.......My Dinner plate Dahlias were not so dinner plate size, but pretty, Blessings Francine.

Nancy/BLissed-Out Grandma said...

Early in my foray into the women's movement, I read a slogan: "Women should raise fewer dahlias and more hell." I never did raise any dahlias, partly because I knew I might not get around to digging them up in the fall. But those look really impressive. Maybe some day....

L. D. said...

When I was young on the farm, we had dahlias. I don't know how they made it into the basement for the winter but we did have them every summer. I had them a couple of times too and they seem to freeze easily in the ground in the late fall.

Nancy said...

Dahlias are one of my favorite flowers.

The photo is amazing! I'd agree that your Grandma had a very green thumb.

RURAL said...

It takes a certain skill to grow Dahlias well, anyone can just "grow" them, but only a few can really make them perform.

Your Grandmother had that skill obviously.

Jen

lisa said...

I do great with the indoor plants, but if anything special has to be done with outside plants, not me, I always find a way to kill them, like no water! 5'7 was pretty tall back then, wasn't it?

Grandma Barb's This and That said...

I've never raised dahlias, but I love their bright sunny faces

LindaG said...

My Granny was a good gardener, too.
Good post!

Anonymous said...

What a sweet photo. She would be proud you remember her dahlias.

Dreaming said...

I love Dahlias, too. I am amazed by the huge variety, but I've not had much luck with them.
I love your pictures of Far Guy's Grandma

Jacqi Stevens said...

We just saw some flowers like that this morning, and I was wondering what they were. They're incredible...and beautiful!

Rita said...

I admire you and your grandmother for being great at growing things. I am lucky if I can keep a few plants alive inside. My mother won ribbons at the MN State Fair for her African Violets. I didn't inherit her green thumb. ;)