Let your flowers say, ‘Welcome’

Spring and summer are coming to the Lowcountry with warmer temperatures making virtually every blade of grass green. In fact, it spreads like a contagious disease to many homeowner hands, making them go green as well.

Hordes of gardeners head to local stores to grab a few flowering annuals to give their gardens a good start.

For those looking for taller plants and shrubs, as well as a variety of potted plants and essential gardening items, several nurseries offer these items.

The Southern Marsh Nursery located at 190 May River Road, Pritchardville, has a large supply of garden essentials. Owner Andrew Ahmann and Saleswoman Tori Mikell are on hand to provide gardening information. Another is Sunshine Hardscape Landscape and Nursery at 36 Plantation Park Dr., Bluffton, with owner Frank Sipala on hand to help. Taylors Landscape Supply and Nursery is located at 36 Cecil Reynolds Dr., off SC 170 opposite the village of Okatie.

“The earth laughs in bloom. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

In the early 1960s, my mother-in-law Josie Altman Tanner, affectionately known as Mammy, lived in a small trailer in our side yard. Born, I believe, with a natural green thumb in Johnsonville, a tobacco-growing country, she has prepared little areas on both sides of the driveway leading to her screened porch for planting seasonal flowers.

She always had different colored thoughts, with their smiling faces, during the cool months and other annuals during the spring and summer months. One flower she always had was the old-fashioned perennial petunia, giving off a heady, fragrant aroma on hot summer nights on her porch.

Wanting to have something green all year round, she bought a small decorative cedar the size of a flowerpot. Well guess what? When his green thumb set to work planting it in his flower bed, this plant which was clearly related to the genus described in “Jack and the Beanstalk” grew, grew and grew! It has completely eclipsed and shaded all of the petunias in this flower bed, and they haven’t been seen in years.

After his death in 1970, the caravan was moved and a small gazebo was erected to serve as a seating area, honoring his memory. Her flower beds are still there, but we cut down the huge cedar to open up the space. Ah! Another ‘guess what’ moment: Dormant petunia seeds that had been sheltered from the elements for years quickly sprouted to life after a heavy downpour, sprouted and bloomed ever since.

There may be a plentiful supply of new flower varieties that have been cultivated, including hybrids at local nurseries, but nothing beats the hardiness of some of our old favorites. Petunias are among the most popular annuals for good reason. They are bright and vivid, bloom from spring until frost, and most importantly, are incredibly easy to grow.

The petunia symbolizes anger and resentment, especially when presented by someone with whom you have recently had a strong disagreement. But they also symbolize your desire to spend time with someone because you find their company soothing and peaceful.

The meanings of petunias can be contradictory which can be confusing, but in reality all flowers have different meanings depending on the circumstances and the relationship between the donor and the recipient.

“A flower blooms for its own joy.” -Oscar Wilde

Several friends have contributed photos of their “welcome flowers” ​​to this column. Theresa Westerman, in her entrance garden at Rose Dhu Creek Plantation, has a sign that says “Friends are the flowers of the garden of life”, with ferns, pink hibiscus, purple iris, white and pink geraniums, and a frilly, pink justicia that welcomes everyone.

The hibiscus symbolizes love and affection between family members, friends and others. It is given as a gift to someone to wish them glory and success. Modern studies show that tea and hibiscus plant extract show promise in lowering blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

Debbie McNeely of Easley, a friend of my granddaughter Cheryl, obviously has more of a green thumb, judging by the multitude of beautiful plants and blooming flowers that spill over from her spacious yard.

Stargazing lilies, lemon lilies, geraniums, roses, purple irises; you name her and she has it. It’s like walking through a well-maintained botanical garden. I wish all the beautiful photos I have of her flowers could have been submitted with this column, but space being essential they would have filled an entire page.

Some daylilies are edible and used in Chinese and Japanese cuisines. The lemon lily, whose name alone sounds appealing, is native to Siberia and China, where it has been used, along with other daylilies, for food, ornament and medicine for 2,500 years. All parts of the lemon lily are edible. They can be used fresh, steamed, boiled, frozen or dried.

The purple iris in her garden symbolizes faith, hope and wisdom.

“Living is not enough, it takes sun, freedom and a little flower.” – Hans Christian Andersen

Sharon Walters in Levy has a high front deck in her house, so she plants giant “happy face” sunflowers all around which surely sends a warm welcome.

Sunflowers symbolize loyalty. Due to their association with the sun, they are well known to be happy flowers and the perfect bloom to brighten up someone’s mood. They are unique in that they have the ability to provide energy in the form of food.

The other benefits of growing sunflowers are that their pest-patrolling birds and bees improve your harvest and can actually help detoxify contaminated soil.

A field of sunflowers is incredible to see. Each flower is parallel to the others that surround it. They remain united in purpose and position, which is a good way for humans to be, as described in Psalm 133: 1: “Behold, how good and pleasing it is for brethren to live together in the unit ”.

“Keep your face in the sun and you can’t see the shadows. This is what sunflowers do. – Helen Keller

Many, many years ago, when my husband Harry and I were at a flea market in North Carolina, he came across a little yellow sign that said “Hi, now Git”. He hit his funny bone and immediately took it to buy it. But I told him to wait and we would do one like this when we got home, and we did.

This homemade sign is still hanging, along with a few cobwebs, at the end of our carport. Any stranger driving can be intimidated and leave, but friends know they are always welcome when they see the hand painted “welcome” sign with a yellow sunflower that granddaughter Cheryl gave us hanging on it. near the back door.

In the process of preparing this column, my August issue of “Our Daily Bread” arrived in the mail. Flipping through it to the last page, this writing from James Banks caught my attention:

“A majestic sunflower stood alone in the center of an isolated stretch of the national road, only a few meters from the expressway. By the way, I wondered how it had grown there without any other sunflowers visible for miles. Only God could create a plant so hardy that it could thrive so close to the pavement in the gray gravel bordering the median. There he was, flourishing, swaying gently in the breeze and cheerfully greeting travelers as they rushed forward. Our God is the master of unforeseen mercies. He is capable of causing great good to spring up unexpectedly in the hard gravel of the most unfavorable circumstances of life. Watch it closely. He can do it again today.

Jean Tanner is a longtime resident of rural Bluffton. She can be contacted at [email protected].