Coral Bells

On the west side of my house is a flower bed that is shaded from the sun so one has to grow plants that grow in the shade. When I was sixteen and still living at home in Lethbridge, my mother planted a flower called Coral Bells that was given to her by a woman named Mrs. Deaks. My mother said Mrs. Deaks had been given this plant a long time ago and since she was thinning out her flower bed she gave my mother some Coral Bells. My mother planted these flowers in full sunlight in her front flower bed and for years the flowers flourished. In 1990, my mother dug up some Coral Bells and told me to plant them in my flower bed at my house in Calgary. I have two patches of Coral Bells that continue to grow on the shaded west side of the house. Yesterday, I looked down on these lovely little red flowers in bloom and realized that these flowers are the descendants of Mrs. Deaks flowers from over 60 years ago. Mrs. Deaks has passed away long ago but her flowers still live on as part of her legacy. Sometimes one forgets that plants like people are part of a cycle of life with their unique history. I have Cattleya orchids that I purchased at the Foothills orchid society that were once owned by an orchid collector who has since passed away. These orchids are 75 years old and still growing and flowering in my greenhouse.