52 Ancestors Week 11: Flowers

 From Amy Johnson Crow: Week 11: Flowers

Spring isn't far off for those of us in the northern hemisphere, and with that comes thoughts of flowers — which, not coincidentally, is this week's theme! Any Roses, Daisys, or Petunias in the family? What about a family member who had a real green thumb? Be creative with this theme!

There's a zombie on your lawn.

    Spring is definitely in the air and as I type this week's blog it's a balmy 56 degrees Fahrenheit outside. It's not quite warm enough to plant flowers around the house. But, I know for a fact that my mother and many other relatives are already planning to decorate their yards with the finest flowers you can find at your local Home Depot or flower shop. My mother has a pretty good green thumb and by the end of the blog I think you'll see where she gets it from!

Man of many talents.

    Not only has my grandfather, Robert Hamel skated his way into my grandmother Natalie's heart. Not only was he a decorated staff sergeant in the US Air Force. He was a man of many hobbies. I've already discussed his love of photography at great length. What if I told you that taking pictures was just one of his many tricks of the trade? Robert Hamel was also an expert when it came to growing orchids!

    For as long as I can remember, my grandfather grew them and they seemed to flourish the most when he was living in Florida. Did the warm climate make it easier to grow them in the Sunshine State? I'm not entirely sure. As far as I can tell orchids can grow just about anywhere on North America. It's not exclusive to JUST Florida. They're everywhere! There's probably one right outside your window right now being pollinated by bees.

    I digress. My grandfather loved to talk about the orchids he was growing every chance he got. He was very proud of them and thankfully I have some pictures I'd like to share! You want to see the pretty flowers? Of course you do! Prepare yourselves for a botanical feast for your eyes! If only you could smell them through your screen. No wait. Bad idea. No one wants to smell anything through the Internet. Think of what YouTube would smell like. Gross. Let's not go there!

Gaze in wonder at the following flowers. You might want to back away from the screen in case you want to sniff. Just a warning!

Pink flowers are pink.

There they are. Fine examples of Orchidaceae, right? I wish I could tell you more about these flowers. I know next to nothing about them. In fact, I had to look up the scientific word for them. Lame, I know. Let me make it up to you.

    I remember my grandfather being very proud of his orchids. The day they bloomed made him very happy. I wish I could say that I smelled them in person or anything like that. Like I said before. He was living in Florida and was growing orchids as a hobby. I never had a chance to see them. But, he did take pictures of them and shared them with anyone and everyone. Look at them! He had every right to be proud! They were amazing! The story of how he got started growing them is about as basic as you can get.

    It all started when he and my grandmother moved to Florida in the 1990s. Grandpa saw some seeds in a grocery store and decided to give growing them a try. Why not? What's the worst that could happen? He was retired and needed something to occupy his time. So, he and my grandmother took the seeds home and in no time at all one plant became so many that it took up an entire room in his house! That room was known as the "orchid room" up until he passed away in 2017.

At least we're not flytraps?

    From another angle the same flowers look like they could be featured in a botanical magazine. The only thing is that now they look purplish in the light. I didn't edit anything, I swear! These are untouched photographs. I feel like they should have watermarks on them or something.

    The photos were taken by my grandfather and I don't know if he took them with a special filter or anything. They just look so spectacular. I'm surprised he never submitted them to a botanical magazine or something because I'm sure they'd love them!

    Growing plants is a great hobby and my grandfather was clearly good at it. I'm not sure what exactly drew him to orchids. Maybe it was the color? I mean they seemed to look pink in one picture and suddenly they look purplish. They are nice to look at, aren't they? I wonder if caring for them took as much skill because they look kind of delicate. Probably! I hope you all liked the flowers!

See ya next time!