Strawberry Hill

When we paid off our house we received the abstract for the property from the bank.  What interesting reading!  Every person who'd ever owned the property was listed along with their occupation, spouse and children.  There was also the information saying what each had paid for the house.

From that abstract we found out that our three lots used to be part of a plantaton named Strawberry Hill, and in the plot books of the town, our entire hill is called Strawberry Hill.  After reading that, I've long thought of our house as "on Strawberry Hill."  Mariana T. names all her houses.  The one in Nevada is named Isabel in honor of a former owner.  The house in Louisiana is named Florence.  When I came up with Florence as a name for my house, she told me that her home in Louisana is also named Florence.  It gave me goose bumps when she told me the name of her house.

When we first moved into this house, almost exactly 15 years ago, oddly enough, for a house this age - the main part was built in the 1920s - there were no flowers.  There were no perennials of any kind and no bushes or shrubs.  There were, however, some fabulous old trees.  The main tree in the backyard is a huge walnut.  Some years we get a bumper crop.  Thank goodness, they look a bit sparse up there in their clusters this year.  When they really start to fall we'll have to stop sitting on the back deck, or else wear a helmet.  Not!

My Mom died this past December.  During the visitation before the ceremony, I stood by the casket and spoke with each of her friends and neighbors as they came up to pay their respects.  At least half a dozen people said, "She always had such pretty flowers."  I hope that's what people say about me to my daughters someday.

Here's what's going on on Strawberry Hill this week.

 I'm very proud of these little dwarf zinnias in the flower cart.  The zinnias and marigolds, some daisies and some cockscomb are the first flowers I've planted from seeds in years and years.  They did great.  I'm planning some more for next year.

Our Topsy Turvy Tomato Thing has blossoms!

I love Boston Ferns and I couldn't resist this one.  Besides, it was on sale.

Here's the flower cart, starring the maker of the flower cart.  Every flower in it came up from seed.  I'm a proud plant mama.

Our hostas are all going to be in bloom over the next ten days or so.  Mostly used for their beautiful foliage, their blooms are pretty, too.

This little Tin Man (who did get his heart) was my Mom's.  She had all sorts of unique and cute doo-dads in her yard.

These plants, pregnant onions, are almost unheard of, so I was very surprised when I saw that Mariana T. grows them, too.  These are two in the same pot.  Sometimes some little bumps appear under the skin, then pops out a perfect little baby to plant to start the whole cycle again.

Thanks for indulging me by looking at some of my flowers.  I'll post more, hopefully all summer as there are new developments.