Sometimes you have to give up something to get something. And I had to give up quite a lot so I could get the one family heirloom I really wanted, this purple vase.
Yes, I have the purple vase. The origins of this vase? I’m not really sure. My mom’s mother had it, but we aren’t sure if she had it for long or got it from other family or just where she got it or how old it is. Somehow it just came to be in the family, and I was determined it would be passed along to me.
I know my siblings wanted it only because they knew I wanted it, so my mom held on to it while we bickered and bartered for years over who was to get it.
And finally I got it by giving up an antique clock. Isn’t it a pretty vase? Wasn’t it worth it?
I have another family keepsake that I’m willing to pass along to all my sisters and brother, without them having to give up anything except a little space in a sunny corner of their house. But so far, only my oldest sister has taken me up on it. It is starts of the Night Blooming Cereus, (Epiphyllum oxipetalum), that came from my aunt’s night bloomer that came from my Dad’s night bloomer. Can’t get much more family than that!
However, I think my siblings are just a little concerned about how big mine has gotten, and that if they take a start of it, theirs will get that big, too. But my aunt’s didn’t get that big, I tell them, and show them, because I have my aunt’s night bloomer as of last summer. She asked me if I would take it because she couldn’t handle it any longer. So I took it because you can’t throw away a plant like a night bloomer. You just can’t.
When I was transporting my aunt’s night bloomer to my house, a branch broke off, and rather than toss it, I started six more plants from it. I’m not sure why I started six more night bloomers because I don’t have room for more of them. I guess the plant just cast a spell on me or something.
So anyway, my oldest sister finally took one of the starts last week and I now I’m waiting for my other siblings to claim theirs, once they realize that this plant is also a family heirloom!
When my sister took one of these starts, in its cute little 4″ pot, she asked when it would bloom. Ummm… not this summer, not next summer. Maybe in 3 years, if she is lucky and figures out the tricks to getting one of these to bloom, but that would be a long shot and that would make me mad if hers bloomed that soon. I’ve had mine for 20 years and I am just now starting to understand it, and what makes it bloom. It has bloomed 3 times in those 20 years.
Here’s my night blooming cereus. Really do you think this is too big for a houseplant?
Because if you take care of it, you get this!
A family heirloom you would not soon forget!
Carol…that really is a beautiful vase and I know you will keep it full of beautiful flowers. Isn’t it interesting how certain family heirlooms just seem to be ones that we connect with? And your cereus is beautiful although a tad big!
No wonder they’re backing slowly out of the sunroom, saying, “No thanks.” It’s so enormous, Carol, that even I would have to regretfully decline to try growing it.
The vase looks almost eggplant in the photo – nice shape to it, and apparently designed to hold tulips!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Hi Carol,
Your amethyst vase is a beauty. I can see why you love it. It would look lovely with light purple lilacs in it.
My that is one BIG plant and you are very patient in waiting for its blooms. They are beautiful when it does, though.
Have a great weekend.
Leslie… I definitely connected with this vase. I bring it out for special occasions, like this past Easter when everyone was at my house. I like to show my siblings who has the vase!
Annie… Sometimes when I walk by the night bloomer, I even get tangled up in those long stems.
Zoey… If I get some lilac blooms this spring, and I’m still hopeful that I might, I will definitely put a few in that vase to enjoy.
A vase with a history is so much more fun to use than one just as pretty that has no memories associated with it. I have a plant that has been in the family now for 23 years. Maybe someday my kids will want cuttings. It’s not nearly as intimidating as your Cereus.
I remember when they had the auction at my Grandmothers house after she died. I bought many things but my prize possession, is the hoe she used. It had been left in the garden, so I took it home with me. I think of her every time I look at it, and I hope someday to have a place to display it. Then, when my Uncle died, I bought his hoe for next to nothing at his auction. Nobody seemed to want it. Non-gardeners just don’t get it!
Really nice vase!
What a gorgeous purple vase! 🙂 I love that you have a passalong plant that you are sharing with the rest of your family as well.
Apple… You are so right about a vase with history being more fun to use!
Vonlafin… I agree non-gardeners just don’t understand about old hoes. I’d love to have an old hoe that one of my grandparents had used!
BlackswampGirl…Passalong plants in the family are just a litte bit more special, aren’t they?
I don’t think that the picture of the cereus really does justice to the size. It reminds me of something from the play “Little Shop of Horrors”. I can guarantee that mine will not get that size, especially since I don’t have a sunroom. Maybe I can get it to bloom in a couple of years.
Kathy, the older sister
Shades of Henry Mitchell, Carol! You will need four people to lift yours just like the one he wrote about! Well, you are a saint to keep it going.
Love the vase! I can see why you wanted it…I hope it brings you much joy!
Kathy… we’ll just see if it blooms in a few years!
Gotta Garden…the plant is like family, I have to keep it!