Memories of childhood

My SP10 hostess, Kery asked us to post our favorite flower. Little did I know what memories that request would invoke. Thank you, Kerry!

Do you ever see something or smell something and be immediately transported in memory to another time and place? Whenever I smell roses I am in the warm Key West summer sun at The Convent Of Mary Immaculate in an un-air conditioned classroom. Due to the island makeup of coral in the soil only the roses on the old Cherokee root stock flourish. They had the scent that so many of today's hybrids have lost. Every morning we would pick the island roses fresh with dew, wrap them in waxed paper and bring in to lay at the Virgin Mary's feet. During the day they warmed up in the heat and the scent was so powerful.

This is a hibiscus blossom and in Key West there are hedges of them in every color, singles and doubles. http://www.trop-hibiscus.com/ is a link for just a sampling of the colors. This one is at my front door and has been grown into a tree. Like many it is a lovely orange in the morning that fades slightly by afternoon. The blooms last only a day and remind me always to live each day for its own joy and perfection. I remember each family member by their flowers. My grandmother loved the bright yellow singles the size of saucers, my Aunt Crissie had pink small singles. My Aunt Nora had small red ones and my Aunt Florence had so many different ones. My brother loved a large white single with a blood-red center called a Delores del Rio and my mother loved the large red ones. I think of each of them as I wander the nursery. One year I had one called a Rum-runner than went through a color range of about 6 different hues from morning till evening. Just looking at it was like seeing all my family again. How lovely that a single bloom can bring back such intense happy memories. I wish you a flower of your own memories.