The other day, my in-laws gave me bearded iris clippings from their garden.
I wish I could properly put into words the feelings that flood my soul when I smell them. The best way I can describe it is that breathing in their aroma reminds me of ‘home’.
But, the funny this is that I don’t think we ever actually grew bearded iris in our yard growing up. Or, I should say, in any of our yards. We moved around quite a bit so the word ‘home’ to me doesn’t just represent one place.
When I inhale the scent of the bearded iris, it reminds me of my mom and how much she loved them and would always tell me about how much her mother loved them.
In fact, my grandmother was quite the gardener. Here’s a snippet from her obituary highlighting just how much nature was apart of her life.
“Wherever Beryl lived, her flower gardens were enjoyed by friends, neighbors and strangers and were often featured in the local newspapers. She was a member of both the Albion and Marshall Garden Clubs and was honored with a Life Membership by The Federated Garden Clubs of Michigan.”
And I think it’s that connection I feel to my history every time I smell them that floods me with feelings of ‘home’. Home to me is always people. Home is my mom and dad no matter where they are (and they’ve lived in a LOT of places). Home is hearing my mom say, “Smell, girls, smell!” every time my sister and I would go on a walk with her or when she would spot a favorite flower and force us to bend over and inhale.
Home is me doing the same thing with my own children, knowing that they will probably do it with their kids too someday.
What about you? Is there a fragrance that always reminds you of home or brings back special memories?
I’d love to hear from you!
Growing up I loved visiting my grandmother. Her house was a short bicycle ride away & I spent many days and nights in her company. Her skin always smelled sweetly of the fragrance of Jerkins lotion-the original cherry and almond. Even after almost seventy years, the fragrance takes me home.
My auntie – my mother’s sister who lived close once we moved from Michigan to Ohio when I was 3 – was an avid gardener, too. She had full sun so could grow so many plants and had a huge gorgeous perfectly weeded vegetable garden that her husband (my uncle) handled. My uncle was German – not blood – but I guess a very German flower is Lily of the Valley. My auntie and unc had that and it reminds me of home. I remember my mom got cuttings and grew it. We lived closer to the lake and had a very wooded home – so my mom was an avid rock and shaded plant gardener – was so beautiful but not the same as all those colors and scents my auntie grew.
When I worked up at our lake office for my father’s business my auntie gave me some Lillies of Valley to grow there. Last time I was up there (we closed the office there when my father passed and now have one huge center down here in Columbus) it was still growing at that building. I also have some here at this house from those clippings that were from my auntie’s garden.
My mother wore Les Mugets perfume – that is from for The Lillies I think b/c it was the exact smell of them. I cannot smell it without thinking of my precious dear mom and her wonderful sister. ♥♥ I miss them so!!!
Loved this post. It brings happy memories back, thank you for that. Hugs.
Definitely gardenias, but this irises are beautiful! Love the colors! Happy weekend ~
Lilacs! Our neighbour had a huge lilac bush and we could take as many blooms as we liked. My mother adored the smell of fresh lilacs and would put them in vases around the house when we brought them home.i love them as she did and when I moved and got my own home I planted several expensive bushes but could not get them to survive. One night my husband arrived home with a piece of a Bush that someone had torn out of the ground when trimming theirs and he dug a small hole in our front yard and hoped for the best. He passed away last year but the bush is now huge and beautiful when it blooms and I think of my mama and of him when I smell them ❤️
The smell of honeysuckle when we were riding in the car with the windows down when I was growing up.
Also the scent of Jergens lotion….my mother used it and so do I.
It’s the smell of daffodils which grew along the fence on one side of the yard of the farm where we lived when I was between the ages of four and eight. My mother didn’t have time to garden then with three little ones to watch so the bulbs were there when we moved there. There were also the little white what we called narcissus, too. They are sold under the name of “Poet’s Daffodil” nowadays. But the smell of those two flowers every Spring takes me back to that farm and days of roaming the pastures and yard quite freely. I also love the scent of the summer grasses that grew everywhere on that little piece of sweet land.
I recognize the towns of Albion and Marshall from you post as I am a Michigander also, living in the Lansing area. My sister, who has lived not far from Marshall for many years may recognize your grandmother’s name as she is also a fabulous gardener but gardens in the country near Springport. I have never had the energy that she has to maintain all the flowerbeds she plants but do enjoy a tour of them most years.
I also love iris and have a very small bed in my back yard which I am hoping to enlarge this year. The one in your second photograph is just gorgeous. I would love to plant one in those colors.
Thanks for your post. It was fun to think back in history to the farm with the daffs along the fence.
We have many beautiful bearded iris colors growing in several beds in our back yard. They all bloom at different times, so we have weeks and weeks of blooms. My favorites are our yellow ones, from my mother’s large garden, and our deep purple ones, from my husband’s boyhood home that his mother grew.
We always wonder which will bloom first, since they usually bloom at the same time! They are lovely reminders of our childhoods and the legacy of gardening that has been passed down to another generation. We are also passing them along, so they will continue.