FORSYTHIA MEMORIES

The forsythia, along with the daffodils is blooming brightly in our yard. These blooms bring back memories.

The daffodils were my son-in-law’s favorite flower and he planted them when they moved here twelve years ago. The forsythia has an even longer history. And memories of my childhood, as well as building a home with my husband. Now the forsythia in my daughter’s yard continues with new memories as we live together. The forsythia blooms are connected because the flowers bloom from the same parent bush.

After my husband and I moved to NH and built a home here, my dad decided we needed forsythia from the farm where I’d grown up in the Hudson River Valley of New York State. He dug up shoots of those forsythia and lilac bushes and planted them here.

The lilac didn’t survive, but the forsythia has grown and bloomed profusely this spring. We have photos of Father and Jim planting this bush 26 years ago. I relate to my daughter and grandchildren tales about the forsythia of my childhood, from which our bush originated.

Forsythia of Childhood

That bush was located at the end of the front porch of our farmhouse. It grew very large and generally had many blossoms. When my parents built and moved to a smaller house across the highway, Father transplanted some of the forsythia to that front yard.

It must have been a hearty bush for it did well there, too, providing bright spring color. Mother often brought branches inside and let them blossom to brighten the house.

At one time, we thought the transplant to NH wasn’t going to survive. So our daughter and her husband bought another forsythia and planted it on the other side of the house. This, too, grew into a large bush with many yellow blooms.

Forsythia Evokes Memories

Forsythia was not my most favorite flower, although I’ve always enjoyed the spots of sunshine it presented around the countryside in spring. However, because of the memories these bushes evoke in my present yard, it has much more meaning to me nowadays than exotic or expensive flowers.

Dandelion Foods

Another yellow flower of spring, the dandelion, brings recipes to mind. From the dandelion leaves, we made many meals when I was a youngster.

In fact, this was a favorite spring green favored by my aunt. This was a common food served by many cooks in days when you didn’t have fresh greens during the winter. The dandelion and other greens were considered a “spring tonic” this time of year.

DANDELION SALAD – Mix tender dandelion leaves with other favorite salad greens. Toss with your favorite dressing. Garnish with chopped hard-boiled egg and crisp, crumbled bacon.

COOKED DANDELION GREENS – Steam or gently boil dandelion greens, as you do spinach. Serve with butter.

My aunt often boiled the greens in water she’d used for cooking ham or pork. This flavored them the way she liked them. Then she served them with the sliced ham or pork, along with boiled potatoes.

DANDELIONS WITH BACON – Some recipes called for dandelions sautéed with a bit of bacon fat. Then serve the greens with bacon and boiled potatoes.

(Mary Emma Allen researches and writes from her woodland NH home.)

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