Dear Joyce,

What a nice posting of historical significance. Mrs. Cunliffe's artistry lives on in you, I must say.

That is so neat! I bet in real life it was truely a sight to behold! Did she you all about succulents after you were born?

Thanks Jeff and Anya.

Anya, yes, she was a BIG influence on me.
She could root ANYTHING.
Whenever flower arrangements were delivered to her door for her birthday, Mother's day, whatever...she would pick them apart and root the plants she wanted. She used to root a lot of roses this way.
We used to go to plants sales together, and go to swaps with her Garden Club friends.
You could see her turn on her plant radar...her 'plant shopping face' was intense!

Come to think of it...I think I do the same thing now. :)

LOL, well Joyce, those are the best memmoeries of a lifetime influences then. Great to have those type, isn't it? It is obvious you were close to her.
What is funny is that we all know just what that 'plant shopping face' is all about. : )
Rose

Joyce,

I think it's neat when the "plant-lover" gene is passed down... My love of plants actually started with my mother in law - my ex's mom. She grew these weird plants (which I later learned were succulents.) She had an Aloe vera, a bird's nest Sanseveria, a mother-of-thousands Kalanchoe and a few others that fascinated me. She would grow them in hard old garden soil on her windowsill. I was 17 when I started dating my ex and by the time we got married, I had starts of all her plants and had aquired a few more. I learned quickly that succulents were my forte and tropicals were NOT! And I've been an incurable addict ever since...

Denise in Omaha

What a great clipping! It's wonderful to have mementos like that. I assume Granmma Cunliffe curled those sansevieria leaves on purpose...

My grandma was my greatest inspiration as well. Her roses were legendary in Monterey Park, but she was also the queen of Epiphyllums, and gave me my first cuttings - which I guess set me on my current succulent path. I think you're right, it is in the genes.

It's a beautiful arrangement and fits perfectly with the figurine. Nice to know who passed down this interest to you.

That is really cool, a bit of history, you must be proud!
I never met my grandparents, tho my mom's Father enjoyed his gardening(theres a photo of him somewhere on an allotment with his Red Hot pokers!)

Thanks everybody.

Grace was a piece of work for sure.
I was NOT her favorite grandchild, basically cuz I was a grand-daughter and not the prodigal grand-son.

She used to 'drag' me around to all her plant sales and swaps just so I could carry her stuff. She thought it was like a punishment for me, cuz at first I wanted to stay home and play with the boys. And she didn't like me to play with the boys even though all my relatives my age were boys. But after the first few outings, I started to really get into it, and had to hide the fact cuz I knew she'd stop bringing me just to ruin my fun. So I pretended to 'tolerate' the outings...givng just enough bad attitude to satisfy her need to ruin my day. ;)
Yeah, you guessed it, she wasn't very nice to me. Always held a grudge against me cuz I was supposed to be 'Doug' (what my parents were planning on calling me if I was a boy). She rarely called me Joyce, always referred to me, especially in front of my mom, as 'the girl'. (Cuz in her eyes it was my moms fault I was a girl and she constantly threw jabs at my mom about it)
But she managed (accidentally) to pass down her love of plants, and I will always appreciate that, if not love her for it. :)

What a shame that someone with such a great sense of beauty in one regard could be so lacking in it in another regard. I'm glad you got the genes anyway.

Jerry