Fathers and Flowers

When Father’s Day rolls around, as it will in a week or so, I will think of Rosemary for grilling and Tomato starter-plants for gifts. Good ideas for fine gifts, but let’s be honest…. The dads I know like more than Culinary Herbs and Tomatoes. I can branch out, and because of my love for these dads, I can name their favorite flowering plants, shrubs, and trees. I can gift some to those who are still active gardeners. For others of these dads, I can plant them in my own garden to serve as little memory joggers… growing beauties that make me think of good times and great people.

So, for the favorites: For my maternal grandfather, out of all flowering plants, it was Sunflowers that “topped the list” (pun intended). He loved them from boyhood, when the largest of them towered above him like giants as they drew in birds to snack on their oil-rich seeds. When I see a print of one of the paintings done by the Old Masters, one of several that has Sunflowers included, I think of my mother’s tales of her dad and his appreciation for these towers of sunshine.

For my paternal grandfather, who grew many flowering plants on his own small farm, it was Siberian Irises that were among his most beloved flowering plants. I have some of these graceful perennials growing in my garden to this day. They were divided from the mother plant and transplanted through the years by my uncle and then my cousin, finally landing with me. They form different patches of understated color in my garden beds… color I could not be without. During the few real estate moves I have made, I have taken these flowering plants with me, as they were and are too meaningful to leave behind.

For my own dad who loved all growing things (including me), flowering plants were wonderful additions to the garden, but it was Sugar Maples, the beautiful Acers that ignite with color in the fall, that really captured his attention. Raking their leaves was no small project, but my dad never complained. He knew how his neighborhood would look if it became devoid of the beautiful Maples that dotted each piece of property. I happen to live at a time and in a place where Sugar Maples meet with mixed reactions: I often hear, “They grow so large; they require such clean-up.” As I counter these comments or simply make sense of them in my own mind, I hear my dad’s encouragement to hold my own. I love these trees, as he did. Isn’t fall raking a small price to pay for incredible beauty?

The simple Orange Daylilies which many know as Fourth of July Lilies are some of the favorite flowering plants around my house. These are not Lilies one can purchase easily. I have not even seen these at garden club sales. Because they are such prolific growers, some call them invasive. But I found them, and they are coming up strong, promising to be a lasting gift for the dad of the house. These perennial flowering plants also hold the promise of stories to tell someday, like my stories about the Sunflowers, Siberian Irises, and Sugar Maples in my history.

For all of us who hope to give a gift to a dad or father figure in our lives, let’s start thinking now about what that gift should be. To supplement the Rosemary and Tomatoes, the neckties and aftershave, the robes and slippers—all very fine Father’s Day gifts—let’s consider flowering plants, a small shrub, or even a tree that has meaning to its recipient… a gift that quite literally is “rooted in history”. Fathers and flowers… they go together just beautifully.