Friday, August 2, 2013

blooming heirlooms


Althea bush a.k.a. Rose of Sharon a.k.a. Hibiscus syriacus

Warning: It multiplies like rabbits


Given to me for my new yard long ago by sister Kay - an old fashioned shrub (kinda like Kay), the Althea bush is very hardy.  It drops its leaves in the fall and spends the winter just a skeleton of its summer self. By July it is covered in green leaves and buds and pink and purple flowers.  


It seems the old timey plants were much more hardy than the ones we can get today at the local Lowe's (many of which I have killed over the years). These strong ones bloom every year, like the forsythia (yellow bells) and day lilies brought here by my parents from their yard in Blue Ridge, which in turn probably came from Mother Hanie's yard in Ellenwood.

Now that my girls both have houses of their own, it is time to pass some of these down.

spring