All In The Family

A blooming tuberose typically means one thing to me, my annual late-summer trip to Hawaii.  For the few seconds that I close my eyes and inhale the scent of this tiny, white, waxy flower I am transported.  Hawaii, Bali, which ever Pacific Island you choose....the tuberose will take you there.  Just one stem, placed in a simple vase by my kitchen sink is all I need.

Planted in tidy rows alongside lines of black drip tape, the tuberose doesn't look too impressive at the moment but the day it was placed in the soil was a fine family affair.  Lola, DD and I ventured out to find a cheerful group of interns, the farm manager, her husband and baby boy all chatting as they worked.

It's a fine distinction, irrelevant to some, but at the core of why I believe flowers planted by hand and picked by hand  are the sweetest flowers around.  It takes long hours and loads of labor to make these flowers grow but just imagine the places they will go......bouquets, farmer's markets, restaurants, your home.  Not all flowers are grown this way anymore....with cheerful stories filtering through the air, with babies giggling nearby.  These flowers will grow up happy.

The Farm Managing Mama lays a tuber in the soil.  

DD practicing flying an airplane....a smooth trip from the viburnum to the tuberose beds....

This year the tuberose are being planted a bit earlier than usual  and on this fine spring day the interns, the farm manager, the freshly planted beds, and the sage-green stroller all glistened in the sun.  I am hoping to meet back here, the whole gang when the bloom begins.....blossoms opening like tiny airplanes landing and taking off......mmmmmm, mmmmmm, mmmmmmm.  A trip to Hawaii is always nice but going with good friends and family....sounds like heaven to me.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cammie