Mom, Calla Lilies and Pilgrimmage

 

My mother, Anna Lee Posante, passed away at almost 94 years of age on March 15 of this year.  She loved gardening and especially got excited with blooming Calla Lilies.  I’m the same way.  Calla Lilies are my favorite flowers especially the ones with large green leaves with white spots and gigantic white blooms.  I had first learned to love this plant in northern Italy while visiting my adopted family, the Lagos.  As I remembered it, they grew wild in fields and ditches, but I had forgotten this until we started on our walk.  In fact, over the years I had wondered if I just dreamed they grew wild.

On our first day of the walk I started seeing wild giant callas everywhere.  We were still walking along the Atlantic Ocean and the flowers were growing everywhere!  You could see that they had not been planted where we were seeing them.  I think that over the years they had seeded and the seeds had blown all over and then there were thousands!

I mentioned mom and how much she loved these flowers to my friends.  They said it must be mom all along the walk.  Maybe it was.  I wanted to believe it.  

As we proceeded through Portugal we saw thousands of them in the wild.  In fields, in marshes, along the streams that ran along our paths, next to fences, and in the yards of churches.  The blooms were as big as my hand with all fingers extended.

I found myself grouching to the others that I would kill to have these in my garden.  I’ve been looking for the really big white ones since we started the garden, but not much luck.  I have lots of various colors and small white ones, but none of these giants.

As we entered Spain we saw fewer of the callas in wild areas, but began seeing them planted in various yards and at the church.  I wished out loud that I could take home some of the calla bulbs, sneak them past Customs, you known.  Eventually, I started pulling seed pods from the callas that were past their blooms.  

For Mom’s Celebration of Life I had ordered Calla bulbs to give to those who came to honor her.  When they arrived I saw the biggest bulbs I had ever seen….bigger than the palm of my hand.  Honestly, I saved some of them for myself and my sister, but set out the rest for family and friends at the luncheon.  Now, I am wondering if people planted those bulbs and if they would send me pictures of them when they bloom.

I cam home with the seeds I had gathered (did not get stopped by Customs) but unfortunately, even if I can get them to grow, it takes 2-3 years to bloom.  I’m so impatient.  So imagine my surprise when I arrived back home, walked into our garden and saw this:

It is not as large, and only one bloom, but my spouse had planted this last year unbeknownst to me.  

Mom, I’m so excited and I am still waiting on the bulbs that I planted this year.  Might it be possible that I’ll have a garden full of Calla Lilies?  I am hoping that at least a few people planted the bulbs we gave them and that perhaps they will send some photos!