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Monday 11 May 2020

Poetry Monday: My Favourite Flower


It's Poetry Monday, and this week's topic is ..... MY FAVOURITE FLOWER.

Join Diane, MotherOwl, Mimi, and me
In Favourite Flower Poetry.
Please leave your poem down below --
Or use your blog, to which we'll go!
And if the theme inspires you not,
Then give a different theme a shot.
Just work your brain and have some fun;
High-five yourself when you are done 😀

*****

They'd Grow No Matter What

My indoor gardening thumb's not green
It's more like midnight black

When people give me indoor plants
I think, please take them back

I think, you don't know what you've done
I'll need to be forgiven

For if, with me, they're forced to dwell
They'll lose their zest for livin'

They'll turn into a wilted mess
Or get so crunchy dry

No matter how I baby them
No matter how I cry

And yet I have much better luck
With plants that grow outside

The ones that grow year after year
They make me swell with pride

The hardy, brave forget-me-nots
And bulbs of every kind

And nearly all perennials --
My black thumb they don't mind

They're dormant in the wintertime
But every spring appear

With garments green and faces bright
For favourite flowers, let's cheer!


*****



forget-me-nots

These might be my *favourite* favourite of all





siberian squill (scilla siberica)

These spread like crazy; the bulbs multiply but they also appear to spread by seed (is that even possible?) because we've found them on the opposite side of the house from the original bed.






iris

Always beautiful.

*****

What's your favourite flower . . . or flowers?

Next week's topic will be ..... the places we call HOME .....

Good luck :)


57 comments:

Elephant's Child said...

My favourite flower is a moveable feast. I love so many of them and welcome them each and every year. That said I am not a fan of gladiolus.
And my partner LOATHES forget-me-nots because of their sticky seeds.
I hear you on houseplants too. My green finger is gangrenous where they are concerned.

dinthebeast said...

My mom's favorite flowers were wild roses, and she painted a couple of her best paintings of old wooden shacks being overrun by them.

I do have a fondness for the 500 volts of retina searing magenta that is the purple flowers of the succulents that some of the nice houses in the hills have entire lawns of, but as a former motorcyclist, my all time favorite flower is night blooming jasmine.

I never saw most of them, but riding through the neighborhoods of the East Bay at night, all of the sudden the scent of them hits you like a wall of pure bliss, you smile, and consider going around the block to smell them again, but think better of it as the nice folks who went to all the trouble of planting and caring for them don't need me buzzing around their block up to who knows what.

I do better with outdoor plants as well, although one of my first jobs was caring for the bedding plants at Montgomery Ward after school, and they all came in each night.

Briana's hand is doing better, she has to soak it in betadine each day and wrap it up in gauze.

The dogwoods are blooming like crazy, and the green plants are all booming again outside. There are some plants that look a little like sweet peas that are all over the place now that I kind of want to find out what are.

Irises are the bomb. My mom painted some of them, also, and Zsuzs had one in our backyard in Richmond that bloomed for the first time in years. It's gone dormant again, but at least we got pictures of it blooming...

-Doug in Sugar Pine

Bonnie said...

Your poem is wonderful! It made me smile because I am something like that with indoor plants too. I love all flowers equally now but my favorite used to be daisies!

River said...

I'm not sure I have a favourite flower. I do like the really hardy ones that grow no matter how well or badly you treat them, the marigolds and zinnias, that self-seed and just keep coming back each season. I love roses, the deepest of reds, the gentle buff and apricot colours and the clear yellows.

baili said...

i am in love with all flowers though forget me not are utterly cute and pretty indeed :)

i wonder why did you say that indoor plants don't suit you dear Jenny ,i agree they need extra care and this is why hubby doesn't bring one ,he says they need quite time and care and then putting them in sunlight and placing them back etc ,quite hard work that require energy and time ,he already does lot in garden so i don't insist
rose ,sunflower tulip are my favorite :)
Happy spring times Jenny ,may you enjoy more delights of weather and season around you
stay well and healthy !
hugs!

Anonymous said...

Two poems for the price of one. My favourite is probably a highly scented magnolia, but old fashioned roses can be pretty good.

SpikesBestMate said...

That's a lovely poem. And I am so like you regarding houseplants. I can make even Aloe Vera wilt - and that takes some doing! Here's my effort:

The garden’s cold and miserable
From Winter’s wind and rain,
The debris left in Autumn
Has taken all the strain.
Old stems and stalks and grasses
Protect the plants below
But it’s still a while before I’ll smile
At Spring’s first Flower Show.

And then I turn a corner
And find to my delight
A patch of crocus in full bloom
Catching the sun’s light.
Snowdrops will soon be following
Pale primroses will glow
Then daffodils and bluebells
Will boldly steal the show.

There are favourite flowers each season
Which make my garden sing
But the flowers that really lift my heart
Are those that herald Spring.

Charlotte (MotherOwl) said...

Nice poem, and nice mostly blue flowers, if i had to choose, I would choose blue flowers.

Starting Over, Accepting Changes - Maybe said...

I really liked your poem and your spring garden is beautiful, Jenny. The Perennials are such lovely colors.. You and Mother Nature have done a beautiful job.

My indoor plants have been around for decades. They survive thru benign neglect and being placed in the right place for light. They get by with only once a week watering, if they are lucky. I wouldn’t want to treat them better because why mess up a good relationship.

My favorite outside flower is a tulip. I planted many bulbs years ago, but most have grown too old to bloom. I understand and can relate.

Marie Smith said...

I am thankful for a man
Who makes flowers grow
Better than I can.

Sorry that’s all I have today!

Red said...

Nice poem! I'm sure that you are too hard on yourself with your opinion of how you grow plants.

jenny_o said...

Haha about your partner's feelings on forget-me-nots ... that's exactly why I do like them; they grow and grow and never die out :D But I can see why those with cultivated gardens would get exasperated.

There is such a variety of flowers to love, isn't there?

jenny_o said...

I'm so glad Briana's hand is improving. I bet LittleBeast's playtimes involve only long-distance toys these days and probably forever.

I love your description of encountering the jasmine at night. Beautiful! And wild roses are lovely. They grow in our area and we have some in our back yard. The only thing about those is all the thorns. Do you still have any of your mom's paintings?

jenny_o said...

Daisies are so cheerful! And yes, there's something to love about all flowers, I find.

jenny_o said...

Oh, roses! If only they thrived here. There aren't many people who can grow them in our climate. I agree about hardy plants that look after themselves. As you can tell from my poem.

jenny_o said...

Yes, I find houseplants a lot of work and you have to have the right sunlight. Here our winters are long and the hours of sunlight are short. And I have no window sills and the cats munch on anything green! I guess the conditions are not very good for me to have success with indoor plants :D

I might have guessed that sunflowers are one of your favourites by the pictures of your garden!

Hugs, my friend :)

jenny_o said...

"Two poems for the price of one" - and worth the price, ha ha

Do you know, I've never smelled magnolia. But yes to old fashioned roses, the ones that you can actually smell. Heaven.

jenny_o said...

Oh, yes - I so agree! Spring flowers are so welcome after the dreary, long winter! Wonderful poem that says just what so many of us feel when our gardens start to grow again.

jenny_o said...

Me too, Charlotte. I love the blues, and the purples too.

jenny_o said...

Yes - hydrangeas are stunning - such a show!

jenny_o said...

Hah! I can relate, too :)

I think you're right about indoor plants and their light needs. We don't have great light inside due to a porch that runs along the south side of our house so anything that needs bright light just doesn't thrive. And cats. Cats don't help. lol

jenny_o said...

Short, sweet, and to the point - I like poems like that, Marie!

jenny_o said...

I wish that were so, Red, but in this case I am not exaggerating!

Chickens Consigliere said...

I love the rhythm of this one. I'm good with neither indoor nor outdoor plantings but it doesn't stop me from trying. I have a mother's day plant my daughter gave me 4 or 5 years ago that I've managed not to kill. I wouldn't say it's thriving but it's not dead. Just this morning I planted the bulbs to the tulip plant I bought at Easter time. We'll see if they come around next year or if they were well and truly dead by the time I got around to it. My favorite flowers are peonies followed by hydrangeas and I have fond memories of the scent of roses climbing the fencing next to my mother's house long ago.

R's Rue said...

❤️

dinthebeast said...

Briana is down in Fresno right now for her follow up appointment, LittleBeast has been meowing his terroristic little head off ever since she left.
Last I knew, all of mom's paintings were still in the house on Russ Street in Eureka where she and dad lived until they both passed away.
I'm not sure what, exaxctly, my sister is doing with that house, but I don't imagine she would let anything happen to those paintings.

-Doug in Sugar Pine

e said...

Sunflowers...gardenias...This is a lovely poem.

kylie said...

Must I choose a favourite flower?
I haven't seen Siberian Squill before and aren't they just gorgeous! The way you talk of them spreading by seed reminds me of freesias.
There are a few very sturdy houseplants, those are the ones I favour ;)

Yorkshire Pudding said...

THE YORKSHIRE ROSE

White like driven Pennine snow
Or yon chalky cliffs at Flamborough
Tender as new born lambs in Wensleydale
Or bluebell glades at Sheffield
Sharp its thorns like the spire at Patrington
Or golden gorse upon the Yorkshire Moors
Proud like William Wilberforce
Or Captain Cook sailing back to Whitby
Beautiful like sunsets over Rievaulx’s ruins
Or gulls wheeling gracefully at Spurn
As everybody knows
North or south, east or west
The rose of Yorkshire is the best.

messymimi said...

My black thumb extends to indoors and out. Houseplants commit suicide if they know i will own them. If i had herbs over my kitchen window, it would be called death row. Outdoors, i leave everything alone so i don't destroy it.

Have a great week!

jenny_o said...

I hope your tulip bulbs come back. Peonies are gorgeous, aren't they? And why is it that roses grown for sale don't have that wonderful scent??

jenny_o said...

:)

jenny_o said...

Do you know, I've never seen a gardenia except in pictures? They are stunning. I wonder if they even grow in our region.

jenny_o said...

Maybe I should have asked for folks' favourite flowers, plural, as it really is hard to choose. I've never found any sturdy houseplants, maybe that's my problem! ... or maybe my thumb is just black :)

Martha said...

Such a lovely poem! I am grateful for the flowers that are starting to put on a show. We are in need of colour and joy!

Mr. Shife said...

I believe I have the midnight black thumb as well. I don't really have a favorite flower. My mom liked yellow roses and they appeal to me because of that but there isn't out there that makes me giddy.

Chickens Consigliere said...

I know! I almost never buy roses in a store because they are like imitation flowers to me.

Diane Henders said...

Your poem made me chuckle (sympathetically), and your invitation in rhyme was perfect!

How could I possibly choose a favourite flower? I adore them all. Every day I'm out in my garden, helplessly snapping photos of this one and that one because "Oh, that's so beautiful! Oh, and look at this one! And this one!" Thank goodness for digital photography. Back in the days of film, I'd be bankrupt! :-)

jenny_o said...

I'm glad your mom's paintings are still in the family.

We have a cat that meows when I leave, too. You can hear her from outside when she gets wound up.

I hope Briana's checkup went well!

jenny_o said...

Yes!

jenny_o said...

I had to Google which rose is considered the Yorkshire Rose. And there it is in the first line! Thanks for an inspiring poem of homage to your home flower, YP.

jenny_o said...

LOL! You have a truly advanced case of the disease, Mimi!

jenny_o said...

They are very welcome here, too :)

jenny_o said...

I don't actually get giddy either, if it comes right down to it :D

jenny_o said...

Isn't it fantastic to be able to take as many pictures as we always wanted to back then?!

Diane Henders said...

It really is! And nobody will have to deal with shoebox after shoebox of unlabelled photos after I'm gone. :-)

jenny_o said...

True! But what if they're looking for some particular and dear photo they know you took? What then, Diane? lol

37paddington said...

Beautiful words and pictures. I have several favorites, orchids and tulips among them.

only slightly confused said...

I love the old fashioned flowers; sweet william, pansies, lilacs, sweet peas....lovely.

Diane Henders said...

Ah, you've spotted the flaw in the plan. Then they're doomed to scroll eternally through my bazillions of digital photos. At least I've grouped them by year... ;-)

jenny_o said...

:D

jenny_o said...

There's really something for everyone in the plant world, isn't there? I wish I could grow orchids. I know the local deer would just eat tulips so I don't even bother.

jenny_o said...

Oh, yes! I love all those too. I associate sweet william with my brother's wedding. My mother and I made pew markers with sw from her garden. And pansies are a firm favourite. Lilacs . . . heavenly scent. Hope you're doing okay these days, Delores.

LL Cool Joe said...

Love your poem, actually a lot more than I love flowers. I like them outside, but hate them inside the house. They remind me of funerals! There are 2 things I don't understand - cut flowers in a vase and scented candles. But then I love the smell of white spirit and paint, so maybe the problem is with me. :D

jabblog said...

I love forget-me-nots and violets and that determined weed, herb Robert. Indoor plants can be so easily overlooked.

jenny_o said...

Ha ha! I don't understand cut flowers and scented candles either. I do like the smell of gasoline, though - it reminds me of my dad who ran a small gas station when I was growing up. It seems a little dangerous to like those kinds of things, doesn't it? but the nose likes what the nose likes :)

jenny_o said...

I'd forgotten about violets - another lovely little specimen. I had to look up herb Robert and thought, hmm, it looks like our cranesbill . . . and lo! it's a wild type of cranesbill! Thank you for increasing my learning today!