Jonalyn's Watercolor Blog

Friends and Flowers

April 7, 2022

I am a third generation gardener. My grandmother from Mexico city is in her mid-nineties and she still tends a garden of roses, fruit trees, and vegetables. My mother and father also grow vegetables in their garden in southern California. In every house we’ve lived, from Los Angeles to Colorado’s Rockies (with a 46 day growing season), to our new home in New Hampshire, I’ve had a garden.

So you’ll understand why I like to imagine friendships in gardening terms. My new friends are like carrot sprouts, lovely but fragile. My closest friend are like sturdy aspen, mighty sycamores.

All friendships begin as sprouts: these weak, but hopeful nuggets of potential. Growing friendships into huge oaks requires a lot of the same steps as cultivating a garden.

It is normal and appropriate for a new friendship to be fragile. And it’s appropriate for older friends to be sturdy and resilient. But all friendships, like all plants, require care. This month we’ll be talking about ways to grow new and old friendships.

And to get you into the spirit of growing, I’d like to draw your attention to my Flower Collection of gift cards. This is a good gift to send to your favorite friends. Just in time for Easter, Mother’s Day and celebrating the resurrection. Just click the photo below to purchase.

Happy Palm Sunday!

The Friendship Posts

Expecting Better Friendships: Friendship Fountain, Sorting Friendships and Downsizing Friendships
What is a Friend: Balloon Friends, Companions, It is Good You Exist
The Pace of Friendship: Walk with Me, Return the Volley, Trains and Rollercoasters
Growing Friendships: Friends and Flowers, Growing a Friendship, Weeding a Friendship
Healing a Friendship: Forgiveness, The Work of Healing, The Crucial Question

I painted this set of flowers to honor different people in my life. Here’s the excerpt printed on the back of the iris cardMy husband’s mother was Lois Ann Fincher. She was most graceful scuba-diving or piloting. In her final years, when she knew the cancer was gettin gate upper hand, she visited us and painted the irises in my California garden. She told me she couldn’t get the flower just right, yet. She would die the following year. Dale and I were married almost two years and we planted dozens of irises in a memory garden at the center of our backyard. In 2019, I painted this iris in memory of her, Lois Ann. We still miss her.The original now hangs in my studio next to Lois Ann’s painting of the iris my grandmother brought her from her California garden. My mother-in-law and my grandmother both give me such a legacy in painting flowers. I’m happy to be able to share them with you!

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4 Responses

Monica Wilson says:
April 8, 2022 at 11:07 am
What a lovely legacy!
Reply
1. Jonalyn Fincher says:
  April 8, 2022 at 1:33 pm
  Thank you for noting that, Monica. It’s mighty good grief work to honor those we have lost. I still admire Lois Ann’s integrity.
  Reply
Anonymous says:
April 9, 2022 at 9:03 am
I remember your garden, and how much you loved it……beautiful flowers and a beautiful friend….are you looking forward to your new garden?
Reply
1. Jonalyn Fincher says:
  April 10, 2022 at 7:02 am
  It’s special to know you can remember my garden in Steamboat, Pegge 🤎. I am looking forward to our new landscaping and gardens very much. I just bought a flat of pansies because I couldn’t stand not having any plants any longer. Pansies, Pegge! Why haven’t I painted them before? They’re so velvety and sweet.
  Reply