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Is there a flower that reminds you of someone special? While I'm preparing my garden beds in the springtime, I think of each of my grandmothers. They had flowers in their gardens that were both magical to me and they were vastly different, just like my grandmothers.
My maternal grandmother had sweet peas growing along her foundation. She didn't appreciate them as much as I did. She told me to pull all of them and take them with me! They always wilted by the time I arrived home, so I left some to enjoy when I came back to visit. As a kid, I thought they were the most beautiful pink magical flower and plant in the world.
As the bright pink flower would start to fade, it turned purple. I really enjoyed looking for them every spring and was drawn to them every time I visited. Not only did they have beautiful blooms, they also had interesting tendrils that would grab onto a neighboring plant or trellis to climb.
Sweet peas are known as romantic flowers because of their enchanting fragrance. They usually bloom around June 21 - the longest day of the year. If you have never had the pleasure of growing sweet peas, they are climbing plants that have clusters of beautiful blooms that resemble fringed butterflies.
Their stems appear to be folded and are sturdy enough to support stems up to six feet tall and many blooms. The cultivars come in a variety of many colors including, red, pink, blue, white, and lavender. They should be planted in early spring or late winter and presoaking the seeds will help them germinate faster.
They were discovered in 1696 by a Franciscan monk, Father Cupani who found them on the hillsides of Sicily. He was so captivated by their beauty and fragrance that he gathered the plant and planted sweet pea seeds in his monastery garden. He also sent the seeds to growers around the world.
Do not confuse sweet peas with the garden variety of peas. Lathyrus odoratus (annual) and Lathyrus latifolius (perennial) are in the legume family, however, are not edible. All "sweet pea" plants, flowers, and seeds are toxic and should not be eaten.
The garden pea family members, Pisum sativum, English peas, sugar snap peas, snow peas, and pea pods are edible and delicious. Their blooms and plants resemble the non-edible variety.
Sweet peas are commonly found in cottage or informal gardens and work well as cut flowers. They work well to climb up a trellis, or fence or can also "spill out" of a planter.
Does gardening bring back childhood memories of someone's garden, an arrangement, or a special meal?
If you have questions about your garden or landscape, contact a master gardener at the University of Illinois Extension office in Mattoon at 217-345-7034. Be sure to visit U of I Extension's horticulture website web.extension.illinois.edu/ccdms/ and like the Master Gardeners' Facebook page www.facebook.com/ColesCountyMasterGardeners.
From the Nov. 22, 1992, Journal Gazette, this photo of Cosmic Blue Comics in Mattoon; where I spent virtually every Saturday afternoon for about two years. That small back room you see just off to the right of the Coca-Cola sign was where they kept the many, and I mean many, long-boxes of back issues. I still own my bagged copy of "Tales of the Beanworld" issue No. 1 that I found back there. Sadly, this location is now just a "greenspace".
Pictured, Shelbyville's Bob Murray from the June 2, 1982, Journal Gazette, displaying his dominance over the TRON arcade game at the "Carousel Time" arcade at the Cross County Mall, later to be the Aladdin's Castle, soon thereafter to be not a thing anymore. I spent just about every Saturday at that arcade, perhaps with that exact same haircut. No overalls, though. I was more of an "Ocean Pacific" kind of kid.
Pictured, from the Nov. 28, 1988, Journal Gazette, Icenogle's grocery store. Being from Cooks Mills, we didn't often shop at Icenogle's...but when we did, even as a kid, I knew it was the way a grocery store is supposed to be in a perfect world, and that's not just because they had wood floors, comic books on the magazine rack, or plenty, and I mean plenty, of trading cards in wax packs.
I had long since moved away from Cooks Mills by the time this Showcase item about Adam's Groceries ran in the June 13, 1998, Journal Gazette, but there was a time when I very well could have been one of those kids in that photo; for if it was summer, and you had a bike, and you lived in Cooks Mills, that's where you ended up. At last report, they still had Tab in the Pepsi-branded cooler in the back. I'm seriously considering asking my money guy if I could afford to reopen this place.
Pictured, from the July 16, 1987, Journal Gazette, this ad for Mister Music, formerly located in the Cross County Mall. I wasn't buying records at that age, but I would eventually, and that's where it all went down. If you don't think it sounds "cool" to hang out at a record store with your buddies on a Friday night, a piping-hot driver's license fresh in your wallet, you'd be right. But it's the best a geek like me could do. Wherever you are today, owners of Mister Music, please know that a Minutemen album I found in your cheap bin changed my life.
Portrait of the author as a young man, about to throw a guitar through a target at that year's Sound Source Music Guitar Throwing Contest, from the April 18, 1994, Journal Gazette. Check out my grunge-era hoodie, and yes...look carefully, those are Air Jordans you see on my feet. Addendum: despite what the cutline says, I did not win a guitar.
Pictured, clipped from the online archives at JG-TC.com, a photo from the April 18, 1994, Journal Gazette of Sound Source Music Guitar Throwing Contest winner, and current JG-TC staff writer, Clint Walker.
Here today, gone tomorrow, Vette's Teen Club, from the June 20, 1991, Journal Gazette. I wasn't "cool" enough to hang out at Vette's back in it's "heyday," and by "cool enough" I mean, "not proficient enough in parking lot fights." If only I could get a crack at it now.
FutureGen: The end of the beginning, and eventually, the beginning of the end, from the Dec. 19, 2007, JG-TC. I wish I had been paying more attention at the time. I probably should have been reading the newspaper.
Illinois Extension leads public outreach for University of Illinois by translating research into action plans that allow Illinois families, businesses, and community leaders to solve problems, make informed decisions, and adapt to changes and opportunities.
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Coles County Master Gardener Darla Chouinard shares facts about where your favorite fruits and veggies come from in this week's YARD AND GARDEN column!
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