On a daily basis there is a garden inside the house I enjoy. Today, I'm remembering my Dad and his mother, my Grandmother. I'm also celebrating that I've been able to grow the garden a little more. Here is the addition to my garden:
When my Grandmother died almost 20 years ago, a little before my wedding, my family sent me me home with a number if items from my Grandmother's house. This included a stainless flatware set that my husband and I still use every day. I'd never been able to confirm the manufacture or find any additional pieces, until now. All I had to go on was the "Rose USA Stainless" on the handles. As you can see in my new addition, I now know the pattern is from Sears Roebuck and Co. , which doesn't surprise me. This ceritificate is dated Dec. 25, 1958. My set is probably about the same age.
Flatware is more difficult to photograph than vegetables, but here you get the idea of the Rose pattern. I've always liked it and my set has worn very well through the years of use, although the flat knife blades are showing wear, probably brought about after we moved to a house with a dishwasher. Plus, I wanted more place settings to use.
For the past year, I've been internet searching now and then to see what might pop up. Nothing, until a few weeks ago when this set popped up on E-bay. I was amazed, to say the least.
And and other bidder too! Fortunately, they didn't know how much I wanted it and I won with a very reasonable bid.
Grandmother was a vegetable gardener and loved colorful flowers. She had a large rambling rose bush at her house. I suspect someone bought the set for her, to replace the miss-matched silverware / flatware she used everyday. She was used to "making do" with what she had so I think she kept the new set for special occasions. My Dad has also been gone for 3 years now so I don't think I'll ever know more about our set.
Just like the items I brought back from our Kansas trip, for inside and outside the house, I love the life in family pieces. A walk though the garden involves discussing the hows and whys of the plants found in it and a visit to the inside garden has its stories too. If you visit, you'll have to see this inside rose garden too.
The bees have been filling their pollen baskets (that bundle on this bee's leg) from the anise hyssop, as the broccoli blooms are slowing down. The hyssop had been putting out the fluffy colored tips and I thought that was all it did. Then, one day, I noticed the purple flowers and all of the bees. 
This year's garden has a lot of yellows, oranges and the lavender/purple from many herb blossoms. Hyssop has been a nice addition this year. Like other herbs, the plants get rather large, but also rather non-fussy. Fresh & dried, the leaves have refreshing mint & anise attributes. I haven't yet tried making tea from it yet, though. 
The above photo is the view from the bench looking across all 6 beds, from the calandula and dill combination suggested by Anita, to the sunflowers in the mostly flower bed and then the bean climber with runner and pole beans. Just to the right is the hyssop. So you can see that that some purple helps add variety. A but of a jungle, but I'm enjoying it and I think the bees are also.
