Floral Friday #4

Secret Nerine!

Many years ago I noticed a plant in my garden beginning to sprout. It was growing at the base of a large gum tree. I was intrigued to see what it was and when it flowered lo and behold it was this gloriously beautiful nerine! How did it get there? I hadn't planted it. I had planted the gum tree many years earlier so I knew it had been planted recently. Then the penny dropped. My mother must have sneaked into my backyard and planted it without me noticing. The next time she visited I took her out and showed her the result of her lovely kind secret planting. We were both thrilled at the colour and beauty of my Secret Nerine. It gave me so much pleasure each year when it would peep up through the soil where it had been hiding just like it did when she first planted it there. Then I would watch it slowly grow and burst forth with its spectacular flowers. We couldn't take it with us when we left that house but I have planted many here to remind me of my Secret Nerine.

Flowers for Dear Mum

These stunning bowls of roses and Philadelphus (mock orange) were a gift to my mother from her 'proxy' niece. My mother had met her mother when they did their nursing training together during WW2. The families had remained friends through all those years since.
Mum would visit her dear friend as she lay in her nursing home bed and bring her Peonies, Roses, Gladioli, Anemones and Daffodils to name a few of the flowers she grew and cut for her.
As my mother lay in her respite bed (at my house) her dear late friend's daughter brought this most gorgeous bounty from her garden as small payment for the hours and hours that mum would spend sitting with her old friend in her last months.

Aren't they too beautiful for words! I was so lucky to have them in my house. I would just stand there smelling them and admiring them distracted from my duties for my mother.
What a garden they come from. You should see it. It is on the side of the hill and covers around half an acre. Whenever I am lucky enough to walk through it I find it hard to keep my mouth closed and "Wow" is about the only word that comes out.
I hope my new garden is even a fraction as magnificent.
I hope you enjoy this tiny glimpse of its spendour.
Incidentally its owner knows the name, common and botanical, of every single plant in that garden and there must be hundreds of roses alone.
I would love to see your additions to Floral Friday please leave your link below.