"And I saw a table of pure silver, it was many miles in length, yet our eyes could extend over it. I saw the fruit of the tree of life, the manna, almonds, figs, pomegranates, grapes, and many other kinds of fruit. I asked Jesus to let me eat of the fruit. He said, Not now. Those who eat of the fruit of this land, go back to earth no more. But in a little while, if faithful, you shall both eat of the fruit of the tree of life, and drink of the water of the fountain. And He said, You must go back to earth again, and relate to others what I have revealed to you. Then an angel bore me gently down to this dark world."
Hvn 137
My Mother,
The Most Wonderful Gardener
So why should I think of the most wonderful, beautiful flowers my Mother grew when I was young? Did it have an effect on my life?
Do you love to ponder the great things of the past that you have experienced for yourself? Maybe there is a special dish that you enjoyed seeing on the table at each meal or on special occasions. Perhaps you’re thinking of a certain dress you liked to see your Mother wear. Did Daddy have a special tie that you will never forget?
Well, these flowers that Mother grew all over the yard gave me a love for the lovely. Now that I have gone through all the gardening that I have done makes me love my Mother all the more and appreciate all her hard work to keep everything so nice.
The wonderful arbor that was in the back yard with a beautiful mulberry tree hanging on it made the atmosphere so relaxing. There were also grape vines on the arbor.
Walnut trees grew all around the property and many different kinds of fruit trees. The walnut trees were full-grown trees of good size and bearing lots of wonderful walnuts. We would pick up the walnuts from the ground and put them into gunnysacks. We had a rack to spread them on to dry. Mother sold many walnuts right at home. I sure like to eat walnuts. They are very delicious and good for you to build a healthy body.
Mother had a beautiful big lemon tree beside the garage that produced lots of lemons so one of her favorites was lemon aid.
Not too far from the lemon tree was a pecan tree. What a delicious nut. They melt in your mouth so to speak. It got to be a good size tree and produced lots of pecans.
On the north side of the house was a row of Camellias of all different sizes and colors. I loved this spot and its beauty and they became very special to me. When I think of this row of flowers I think of my Precious Mother and her good taste and love for the lovely. Some of the flowers were a solid dark pink the shape of a rose. Some were larger flowers the shape of a dome with the outside petals a different color from the center petals. The two-toned would remind you of a peppermint stick with the white speckled with red slashes. Some of the bushes grew to be quite high.
I most likely would have never heard of a loquat tree or Jacaranda tree if my Mother did not have them. The loquat tree has a small fuzzy yellow fruit the size of small Brussels sprouts. One time I was canning them in the jars. There is one big very smooth shinny seed inside. This mild sweet fruit is easy to eat and not messy like some others.
I can remember Mother’s Crepe Myrtle tree blooming profusely. It was covered with rippled bright pink petals. The flowers are about an inch across.
The Jacaranda Tree has clumps of flowers that are pink or blue that can cover the whole tree. It’s certainly exciting to see these trees in bloom.
The mulberry tree is a trailing tree with branches that hang. It produced some wonderful sweet specialty berries and looked graceful hanging over the arbor.
The full sizes of Pomegranates were full of juicy red seeds. It was a pretty little bushy tree. It was interesting that the Ladybugs were in a mass covering the trunk of the tree. So it looked like a red tree trunk.
The California Jay would come to the fruit trees. They were friendly to us and would sit there and make their call as if to answer when we would talk to them. They seemed to want to be our friends.
One of Daddy’s favorite was the tomato growing on the plants. He would have us children pick the tomato worms off the plants. We would see the sphinx moths flying around also that came from the tomato worm cocoons.
Mother had a special large ceramic vase the shape of a white swan. On Friday in preparation for the Sabbath we would fill it with flowers during the summer months,
when there were flowers to fit in it. I remember putting the lovely irises in this vase which suite it so well.
Beside the swings was a Nectarine Tree. It seemed this fruit got eaten before it was ripe. They are so sweet and delicious and full of flavor when they are green. Mother’s work certainly was seen in her lovely yard. I will always feel the blessing of being able to be brought up in a beautiful atmosphere she provided for us in our early years. And I appreciate My Mother more all the time. Praise to the Lord for this experience and for her teaching us the way of Salvation and teaching us that Jesus loves us.