By Steve Flairty
NKyTribune columnist
Being one who enjoys gardening, I’m excited that spring is here. Soon I’ll be sowing my wildflowers seeds and am already seeing the fruits of other seasons sowed, as perennials are popping up out of the ground daily. I like most of the flowers I raise, but none like my far and away favorite, white Shasta daisies.
Shasta daisies are attractive, if not stunning. They like sun, but they don’t have to be in sun all the time. They are perhaps better known as a summer flower but often are vibrant in late spring also. They spread, saving time and money from procuring more of them, but generally are not aggressive and invasive. My wife Suzanne, who handles the flower cutting arrangements in our household, gives them an “A” for their beauty, color coordination versatility, and their sustained vase life, sometimes over a week. I view Shasta daisies as a flower friend, pleasant to be around and not terribly complicated.
I asked other Kentuckians about their favorite springtime bloomers.
Jan Schiffer also is a Shasta daisy fan. “When my book cover (for Finding the Rest of Me) was being designed, the artist surprised me by adding daisies to the cover, not realizing they were so special to me. It was confirmation that she was the best choice for designing my cover,” Jan said.
“My fave, cornflower, is considered a weed,” said Anne Carmichael, of Nicholasville. “My dad died in July, so I had the florist get them from the roadside, intersperse with pink rose buds and baby’s breath.”
For Sharon Tankersley, of Versailles, her experience with cherry trees and their blossoms was a big part of her time living in Washington, DC. Those pretties also grow in Kentucky, too, and there are beautiful plantings in the Cave Hill Cemetery, Louisville, and the Lexington Cemetery. I like them, too, Sharon.
It’s not often that sunflowers bloom in the spring; they are considered a summer and fall plant of color. But I researched and found that under ideal conditions, they can also bloom in late spring. Glenda York, a retired librarian from Russell Springs, noted: “I love them because of that vibrant color that always boosts my mood, and the fact that they follow the sun, always reminding me to look for the light.” Glenda grows several sunflower varieties.
Versailles resident Tommy Dennison, also a librarian, told me that his first choice for spring blooms are tulips because of their variety of colors, but his second choice, daffodils, reminds him of a childhood experience “down in Lee County when my cousin and I planted a bunch of them behind the house.” For Tommy, it summons feelings of sadness as his cousin has passed.
Another daffodil lover, Mt. Olivet native Jan Watson, recalls that they “grew in great swaths along our creek in Robertson County. To me, they represented spring and the coming of Easter.” And still another fan of daffodils, Patty Ranft, of Lexington, noted that “they are the first flower to bloom in our yard in the springtime, and they have open, bright, happy faces.”
Hyacinths are the pick of Beth Brown. “When I was in India many years ago, I was greeted at one location with a flower necklace, like a Hawaiian lei, made of hyacinths. It smelled so good that the flowers won me over.”
Ahhh, spring and its positivity…
With the high school basketball season over and college basketball winding down, allow me to mention a small, but powerful gesture I observed several years ago that has stuck with me.
I watched a few girls’ basketball camp sessions at Transylvania University, where my stepdaughter participated. Coach Don Lane, who coached the men’s team at the school, led. He strongly emphasized good fundamentals at the camp and many, hearing of the camp’s quality, attended. At the end of each day’s camp session, he gathered the middle school girls together and gave some compelling advice: “Girls, go home today and do something nice for someone… and don’t tell anyone about it.”
With that gesture, the youngsters were challenged to value character. Part of the teaching was to show love, but the other part was about humility. The coach gave his players much more than basketball skills at the camp. He gave them a life lesson to use in any endeavor. I’m told that his son, Brian, who followed him as coach at the school, teaches his players the same lesson. As I’ve mentioned before, keep it up, Lane family.
