I love all of these stories! Bonnie, I especially love you mother's explanation of the falls and standards. I love to tell my own children stories or meanings that go along with the plants I love. I plan to share your mother's story of the iris with them.
I also fell in love with irises when I was a young child. When I was growing up, the Friday before Memorial Day was spent harvesting huge bouquets of irises and peonies from my mother and grandmother's yards. I remember the smell of the flowers filled the car as we drove to the cemetery. My grandmother and my mom, my aunts and cousins, my sister and nieces would all gather to place these beautiful flowers on the graves of our loved ones. I remember it was a time filled with happiness for us children. We played together amongst the headstones as adults arranged the flowers. That cemetery holds many memories of loved ones and as adults we still remember the days we spent together there. Years later, I asked my grandmother what her favorite flower was and she said she loved the purple irises (she called them "flags") the best. For me, it is the smell of the old purple irises that reminds me of loved ones.
