Although the focus of Memorial Day (formerly Decoration Day) is for our fallen war veterans (and rightly so), most of us also use this time to remember and honor our family and friends who have died as well. My routine is to take fresh flowers to the graves of my grandparents, Virgil Lee and Virginia Lea (Pulliam) Falconer, my dad, Stanley Lee Falconer, my great grandparents, Dallas and Hermia (Bowyer) Falconer, and Susan Emily Pulliam. Last year (2014) with Memorial Day a bit earlier and the extended cold winter, there were few flowers about and no roses at all. So I started looking for attractive greenery. These included eastern red cedar branches and wild grape vines stuck in with the few irises and peony blossoms made for what I thought was an attractive bouquet. Even tried some dusty miller, but it wilts too quickly.

Although it is cold again this year (2015) and Memorial Day is early, we have had an abundance of flowers for decorations.  I liked the greenery from last year, so I still included some this year.

Have a safe Memorial Day weekend.

tauna