13 Grandparents Whose Gardens Became Family Traditions, From Camellias to 1940s Seeds

“It’s been such a labor of love to nurse my great grandmother’s camellias back to health, but every bloom makes it worth it.”

I moved into the house my grandmother was born in after she moved out. She used to love gardening but ended up mowing all her garden beds down when she couldn’t care for them anymore. Her mother had a giant camellia bush at the front porch, easily 12 feet tall and 6 feet wide. It was chopped down too.

When I moved in two years ago I started the journey of salvaging everything I could. The camellia bush has slowly grown back. It’s about three feet high and a foot wide now. I’ve been able to enjoy blooms for the past few weeks.

Being able to enjoy the same flowers that several generations of my family also enjoyed means a lot to me, and I wanted to share with everyone else as well.

“Can my 85-year-old great grandfather’s garden get some love? He does this entirely on his own!”

Unfortunately, at his age I don’t think he could tell me the names of them. He knows the roses & the geranium, but other than that if he likes something at [the garden store] he just gets it. He looks for spreading-flowers for the front yard beds (he definitely loves the phlox though) and for the other flowers he just does it by what “has pretty flowers” at the garden center.

He’s set in old ways, honestly don’t think he even understands what organic means lol. It would be pointless, he goes off autopilot when buying garden supplies. Welcome to my life 😂 He’s probably just gonna tell me “plant food”. No papa, the people of Reddit want details about your fertilizer.

“Just visited my grandma. She’s been gardening for 60 years and is trying to teach me :)”

Every time I go over she gives me new cuttings, so I’m growing my garden with parts of hers :)

She has stories about all the plants she has, they often came from her friends or neighbors that have long since moved away. One plant is from an old neighbor that we all loved and now everyone in the family has some of his plant.

She calls all her plants “him” and “her,” like, “Oh he’s been really upset lately, we’re working on finding him a new pot so he’s not so mad.” 🤗

She tends to it every day, even if just for a half hour. Ironically (and incorrectly), she would be the first to tell you she doesn’t know what she’s doing, she just putters around until something happens.

“My grandma is over 90 years old. This is her garden.”

Yes, she is all the time. Actually her and my 93-year-old grandpa. Just today he took the clippers and his cane out to trim the branches on a tree. We try to tell them to be careful but they don’t like much being told what to do.

I don’t think the squirrels bother the garden but they do bother the bird feeders. It drives my grandpa crazy. You can’t see it, but above the backyard he tried to make a wire thing that would deter them from eating from the bird feeders but it failed.

Last summer was basically the battle of grandpa vs. the squirrels. Think of a grumpy old man just going on and on about squirrels. That was him lol.

She’s already made pickles from the cucumbers! And I think we’re going to have fresh potatoes tomorrow.

“I thought this group might enjoy my great-grandfather standing on a tractor to show off his lima beans in 1952.”

My great-grandfather farmed his whole life and kept a backyard garden until he was 90. I remember shucking corn and sneaking berries (my great-grandma was saving for pies) with him throughout my childhood. It’s a joy to share his memory with you all!

My great-great grandparents owned farmland in Indiana and my cousins still farm the same land today. I also have various photos of relatives showing off giant watermelons and cute cows.

I think he would be hella confused by Reddit but excited to see everyone’s gardens here. Just wanted to say thank you to everyone for your kindness!

“I told my grandma all of you would want to see her amaryllis”

I wish I inherited the green thumb but I did not 😭 trying to learn from her as much as I can lol

It’s funny, my grandma and grandpa actually had their own landscaping business when they were in their 20s and retired around the time I was in middle school. Then there’s me, their only grandchild, who is basically deathly allergic to grass and tree pollen! Haha.

I asked her what kind of flower it was called and she told me “armarilla” 😂 She’s so cute.

Almost all of her Christmas cacti have blooms right now. Some of them were given to her by her mother, so they definitely have to be kept alive and passed down now.

“Got the seeds from my grandma’s ‘secret’ seed storage. The largest one is 15.4 ounces. They’re super delicious.”

No clue what type they could be. My grandma has a seed stash since the 1940s. She has different type of sweet corn, purple-yellow-green beans, all kinds of things she got from her parents and planted them for their seeds, etc. They’re not labeled.

Well im pretty sure they didnt really have a choice, we live in central europe; a lot of things went down here during the second world war and even before that so they had to grow their own food, etc, but nowdays it’s more like a hobby for us.

I usually don’t eat tomatoes because of its acidity messes up my stomach but this type is super sweet and I can eat it without any problems.

“Went to visit my grandma’s Jade plant we donated to Frederick Meijer Gardens about 16 years ago. Never seen it in bloom.”

I think she had it for 20+ years before it was donated. It was given to my parents, but started doing poorly, that’s when they decided to put it in better hands. It was actually in a much larger pot on wheels and has been trimmed back significantly.

We were talking to the lady that brought it to the lobby, she seemed very knowledgeable and answered any questions we had. She said it’s been there the whole time she’s worked there, over 10 years.

I really didn’t detect much of a smell, the flowers were wet with clear liquid that comes out of them.

Guess I have to thank my grandma Ann as well.

“My Grandpa’s Garden. He’s 92, lives alone, and is the only one that works on/tends to the garden. Every year he grows tomatoes from seeds that end up taking over the yard. He’s the best.”

He’s genuinely so inspiring. He has such a full life at his age. He walks the neighborhood dogs, decorates his front lawn for every holiday, goes to the beach with other “geezers” once a week, constantly has jigsaw puzzles going, etc.

All the succulents and bromeliads in that covered area were my grandma’s. She would enter plants into the county fair and regularly get a blue ribbon. Her email was “Brom Queen” 😭.

He’s a man of very, very few words, but plants are one of the few things he gets excited about. I love the man to death, but he’s not known for showing emotions lol. “Love you Opa!” “Okayy then. Thanks.”

“The irises my grandma gave me 3 years ago finally bloomed!!”

In 2022 my grandma gave me some irises as I had been wanting to get into gardening like her but do not quite have that green thumb. I had no idea what I was doing with them. The rest I left in the container she gave them to me in and I neglected them. They would grow beautiful fans every year but no blooms.

The ones in the bigger pot finally bloomed last night! I’m going to plant some around my mailbox as it’s the sunniest part of my yard. I feel like there’s a lot and I may have to give some away. Aaaaa I’m so excited though!

What’s crazy is that these haven’t actually been transplanted. They’re in the same container my grandma gave them to me in lol.

“My grandma gave me her 55 year old plant and 60 year old plant stand today”

The plant stand is made from a branch of a sweet gum tree that had a vine wrapped around it. The story is that my grandpa watched it grow for years until 1965 when he decided it was time to cut it off. They didn’t have sandpaper so they used broken glass [soda] bottles to scrape off the bark.

The plant was a gift to my grandma when she was pregnant with my mom in 1970.

Over the years she’s propagated it soooo many times to give away. I actually have about 5 other pothos in my house that were cuttings from this one plant. There’s no telling how many other people out there have a piece of it too!

But now that I’ll be caring for it, I’m hoping I can restore it to its former glory!

“My 80-yearold grandfather showing off his recent harvest! 4’6 zucchini!!”

Thank you, he’s very proud of it and has been showing everyone ;)

This isn’t even the tip of the iceberg. This is one day. This man supplies tomatoes to all his neighbors all summer long. He doesn’t even eat them. Just grows them.

He works hard at it and it’s a longtime hobby for him. He grew up on a farm in Ireland, and now he keeps his own little garden in Brooklyn. He’s a Kerry man! Proudly immigrated from Ireland in the 60s.

No more stunts for him! We sometimes get pictures of him on his roof from his neighbors. He’s been told off many times and we’ve finally convinced him to put away his ladder for good.

“My great-great-grandfather in 1940 and me in 2017, with our pole beans”

He was in his 70s in the photo, I was 34. And 77 years between the two photos!

They are both Kentucky Wonder pole beans, but mine were not seeds that were passed down.

I actually knew this man’s daughter (my great-grandmother) born in 1904, who was born the closest in time to me out of the rest of my great-grandparents.

Having a family history of gardeners is such an added bonus to gardening! I went through a ton of old family photos last winter and made a list of all the flowers my grandparents and great-grandparents had in their yards, many of which I wasn’t familiar with. I am growing many of them this year just to see what they’re all about!