Taking a Tour in My Mama’s Not So Tidy Flower Garden and a Realization That I Have Walked By Them Everyday Not Knowing Some of Their Names

All the photos and words used here are mine taken on a slow walk around our little home.

Hello, fellow Hivers! Hope you’re all safe and doing well.

I am on my maternity leave and as I looked at the calendar I’m only left two weeks before I get reinstated. So I decided to make the most of my time. I woke on a nice weather and just felt like walking around the house. So, I stepped outside and found myself in Mama’s garden. It’s not fancy, clearly no landscaping was done to make it more organized. It’s like the flowers were just put anywhere as long as it’s alive and the space fits (hahaha). She just planted what she got from a friend’s collection, what people gave her (specially my aunt who is also a plantita), or what managed to grow on its own. And yet, somehow, everything fits together. Like one big happy family of flowers.

On the sides of our house is what I always call the gumamela fence. My father don’t like putting a fence because it can rot eventually, so he said just plant the gumamelas around our lot’s perimeter so when it grows, it will serve as our fence. True enough it became a reality. Mama have a variety of gumamela plants. There’s white, red, orange, and pink.

Then there’s the San Francisco plant (correct me if I’m wrong with the names because I’m not certain about some of them hehe) so bright and tall, taller than me. They were also planted on the sides of our lot to serve as a fence. They’re not only flowers for beautification, they also have something else to useful about.

Of course, Mama has a rose too. You just have to have one in a flower garden, right? This one is the only one which is still fresh. Some of them already turned brown and slowly wilting.

A yellow bell is also at the back of the house. It’s as cheerful as it sounds. Every time I see it, I feel like it’s saying, “Good morning!” even when I’m still sleepy.

Then there’s a big bunch of santan plants. Most of them are red and some yellow.

There’s also this plant we call Vietnam rose, I’m not sure if it is called the same way in your location. If it’s not, please tell me. We’ve been calling it that for years.

There’s also the anahaw leaves, our national leaf--big, green, and proud. And then, of course, the badyang, which became a celebrity during the pandemic. Would you believe it used to be so expensive? But here in Mama’s garden, it’s just being itself no price tag needed.

And oh, there are so many more flowers and plants I don’t even know the names of. Some just have leaves, some bloom quietly, and others just surprise us one day with a flower we’ve never seen before.

They’re like strangers that somehow feel like family.

Walking around Mama’s garden reminded me of something simple but true. You don’t need everything to be perfect for it to be beautiful. Mama’s garden isn’t tidy or planned, but it’s full of love, care, and stories. Just like life. And that’s more than enough.

If you’ve made it this far, thank you for walking with me.
And if you happen to know the names of any flowers I mentioned or the ones I don’t, please drop a comment. I’d really love to learn more about them. Till next time!