By Beverly Thomas

I was born and raised in Montgomery in the early 1950s to my parents, a stay-at-home mother and civil engineer father. We lived in a little neighborhood in east Montgomery with good, loamy, well-drained soil. Mom added organic matter to the soil to make a rich medium for growing flowers and vegetables.

My parents grew a variety of vegetables in their backyard garden including tomatoes, pole beans, cucumbers, squash, onions, and peppers. They also had peach, pear, and fig trees. We had a relatively small house and yard, but lots of vegetables, fruits, and flowers growing there due mainly to Mom’s gardening skills.

Mom was raised in Walker County. When we would visit her family, she would bring home various plants that grew in the woods around her childhood home. Some of the plants I remember being transplanted in our yard and flower beds were oakleaf hydrangeas, crape myrtles, as well as cow cumber trees, also called bigleaf magnolia. Their scientific name is Magnolia macrophylla. Cow cumbers have large, fragrant flowers up to twelve inches across and large leaves thirty inches long. These flowers and leaves are the largest of all North American species except for tropical palms. Mom would tell stories of playing in the woods near her home and using those leaves to make long skirts by attaching the stem end of the leaves together at her waist with sharp thorns.

After marrying my father and moving to Montgomery, she would often visit Walker County and dig up these cow cumbers and transplant them in our yard. She would also take cuttings of the established trees and “root” new ones. By doing this she always had lots of small versions of this unusual tree to give to neighbors and friends.

Mom also loved growing flowers and two favorites were bearded iris (Iris germanica) and daylilies (genus Hemerocallis which means “beauty for a day”. There are various species of daylilies.) She enjoyed purchasing iris and daylilies from mail-order catalogs. She also would swap iris and daylily tubers with friends and soon had established quite a colorful flower garden that she enjoyed. My dad didn’t have much to do with tending the flower garden, but delighted in counting the blooms daily.

As I grew up, married, and also settled in Montgomery, Mom shared her iris and daylilies with me. She gave me tips on growing them and showed me how to divide and replant the rhizomes. I now have many samples from her garden in my flower beds.

Both iris and daylilies should be divided when flowering declines or the clump becomes crowded. Regular division between two and five years will allow them to flower profusely. Iris and daylilies can both be divided four to six weeks after flowering stops so the replanted rhizomes have time to become established before there is a threat of freezing temperatures. The entire clump can be lifted out of the ground carefully with a shovel or pitchfork. Shake off the loose soil and separate the rhizomes and inspect them for any insect damage or soft spots. Remove and discard damaged rhizomes and leaves. For iris, cut back the remaining leaves to one-third the original height. Daylily rhizomes should have at least three short stems above the rhizome and several healthy roots.

When ready to plant iris and daylilies, dig a shallow hole with a small mound of soil in the middle and arrange the rhizome on top with the roots spread horizontally in the trench. Fill the hole leaving the top of the iris rhizome barely exposed. When covering the daylily rhizome, the point where the leaves join the roots (the crown) should be the same depth as the surrounding soil. Water thoroughly and keep both moist, but not wet until growth occurs. Transplanted iris may bloom sparsely the first spring after replanting, but daylilies often flower well the first spring after they are replanted.

My mother has been gone now over twelve years, but I still have many reminders of her in my flower beds. I know I don’t have her gardening talents, but seeing her blooms in my garden will always make me smile.

Beverly Thomas, an intern in the 2003 Master Gardener Class, lives in Montgomery. For more information on becoming a master gardener, visit www.capcitymag.org or email capcitymag@gmail.com