A few weeks ago I started looking back on the flowers that I can remember from my childhood and ones that hold a special connection with the past for me. Surprise surprise once I started thinking, the list just grew and grew! Then when I started talking to other people about my idea, I found out that I am not the only person who’s childhood revolved around flowers.
I must admit it was great to revisit many of the brilliant flowers and plants that have shaped the person and gardener that I am now. I found it far more interesting though, getting quick snap shots into other peoples childhoods and how flowers have played a role in so many peoples lives from a very young age!
I hope you enjoy reading this post as much as I enjoyed researching it! If you want to submit your own story feel free to email me your photo and a few words so it can be included. You can send your email to beyondthewildgarden@gmail.com.
Childhood Flowers – A Journey to the Past
WallFlower – David Corscadden
Wallflowers are one of the flowers that stands out most in my mind when I think back to my childhood. When I was young and would spend my summers following my grandfather around his garden, I would always stay a bit too long at these flowers. He had big masses of them planted in plastic tubs outside his work shed in what seemed like every colour you would see from a setting sun! I was always amazed by these flowers that I only ever seen in his garden so I thought they were special to his garden!!
Cowslips – Mary Corscadden ( Aka Mummy Beyond The Wild Garden)
When I told my mum about the post I was planning to write for the blog she said she really wanted to be part of it. One of the first flowers she mentioned to me was Cowslips. As a child she remembers the sides of the roads around her house being covered in hundreds of these extremely delicate flowers. The banks and fields around her house would be speckled yellow in spring from these beautiful flowers. They have become very rare now thought and there are only a small number of them around my grandmothers house.
Buttercups – Ciara H Sweeney
Ciara, like every other person I have talked to in the past few weeks, has extremely fond memories of buttercups! In particular their magic ability to tell if you like butter or not!
“I always loved running around the playground at school with my friends with great bunches of buttercups and holding them under peoples chins to see if they liked butter or not! It always worked and told us if the person really did like butter or not! I always loved how delicate and simple the flowers were too!”
Snap Dragons – Dee Sewell
The lovely Dee from Greenside Up sent me this great memory of a flower that is close to my own heart too! The magical snapdragon flower.
“Closing my eyes I can still see the rows of snapdragons that used to line my parents pathway on the walk up to the front door. Their vibrant pink, red and yellow flowers brightening up the weed free soil. I remember laying down and looking at them closely before reaching towards one, pulling it close and pressing it to my lips. I’d been told by an older friend that the flower would kiss me just like a frog and princess kiss and stick to my mouth. I was curious but not scared, what would the snapdragon do? Would it snap or breath fire?…. I was about 7 years old.”
Daffodils – Susan Corscadden
While I was out for a walk with my sister, she told me that the flowers that stick out in her mind are daffodils. In particular the daffodils that my granddad grew in Kildare. He had many different varieties growing in his garden when we were kids. He had the usual bright yellow ones that you see everywhere but he also had some unusual white and pale yellow varieties growing under trees. Susan always loved to pick the long tall stalks and bring them into the house so she could admire them!
Dandelions – Adja
I don’t think Adja really needs to explain her flower, I think the photos tells us everything we need to know! Like everyone she spent her childhood doing the exact same as the kid in this picture! I will admit that as a child it was one of my favorite past-times, to knock the fluffy heads off dandelions. Now however, I admire them as I very carefully collect the seed heads and take them from my garden so I can to limit the amount of dandelions the following year!!
Bind Weed – Alice Elliot
Alice from Aspiring Country Woman sent me this great flower to be part of the blog post. The humble bind weed captivated her imagination as a child.
“My flower is bind weed, though really it is the big white variety rather than the smaller pink wild creeping version. As a little girl I was always fascinated by these big white bell-like flowers, and wanted to pick them to take them home. Trouble was, they didn’t last five minutes after being picked, so when I got home they had withered and gone all brown and horrible.”
Roses – David Corscadden and Susan Corscadden
This flower is a joint addition from myself and my sister, as both of our childhoods seem to revolve around roses! Both of our grandparents houses seemed to be covered in roses during the summer months. Our grandparents in Kildare had one particular rose that sticks out in my mind. It was a vibrant yellow rose that climbed up the wall just outside their front door. I think the scent was the thing that attracted me to it as a child,it was so sweet and filled the air with its scent for weeks and weeks.
My sister on the other hand remembers the old pink rose that was in the front garden of our grandparents house in country Meath. This rose was much more delicate and was very similar to the rose pictured above. The flowers on this one did not last as long, so you would always have to absorb its beauty much faster than the other roses.
My Name is David Corscadden and I have just finished my degree in horticulture from UCD. I have a keen interest in wildlife friendly gardens or as I like to call them “Wild Gardens”. I have in the last year taken a u-turn in what I thought I would do after college. I have moved more in to the literature side of horticulture and plan to do a masters in journalism next year.
Source: Beyond The Wild Garden – Childhood Flowers – A Journey to the Past – David Corscadden
