Not Quite Flowers for a Stranger

Today is the 27th of the month which is of course, Give Flowers to a Stranger Day. ( For those of you who don't know, Give Flowers To a Stranger Day happens on the 27^th of every month. For more in depth history of this very special holiday, take a look at "It's That Time Again...Flower's for a Stranger." ) I must admit, celebrating H on GFTSD started as somewhat of a challenge.  A quick internet search of flowers that begin with H revealed a long list of names I did not recognize or could not pronounce.  There were  a couple I thought about, hibiscus and hydrangea.  Both beautiful and both a bit hard to come by this time of the season. 

The one that stood out for me was hostas.  I don't  usually think of this as a flower, more of  a shade plant that throws a few stems of flowers later in summer.  But then I realized that the hostas were actually the perfect plant for this day.

When we moved to this home over 10 years ago, my mom brought us many buckets of perennials from her yard, including a few different kinds of hostas. Not knowing anything about landscaping or what kind of flowers should go where, I threw them into one area of my yard and forgot about them.  By last year they had multiplied into many disorganized clumps, clearly with the potential to beautify my yard, but in need of some guidance to do so.  Along came two of my oldest friends to spend the day with me digging, dividing and planting.  And this spring I have an amazing shade garden with an assortment of hostas that are placed just right.  When I look I see  not only the perfectly placed plants, but the kindness and friendship they represent.  I love seeing part of my mom's garden in my yard and I love that my friends helped create it.

Today I dug up a few of those perfectly placed hostas to give to my friends who help me.  Not quite flowers for a stranger, but it seemed right nonetheless.