LIFESTYLES

History flowers in tiny heritage petunia

By JOHN HOWELL
Posted 9/16/20

By JOHN HOWELL Now 90 and as sharp as ever when it comes to times gone by, Henry Brown remembers gleefully accepting the job his father offered him. He was 12 years old and he would be collecting the garbage of homes on Gaspee Point. The job would take

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LIFESTYLES

History flowers in tiny heritage petunia

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Now 90 and as sharp as ever when it comes to times gone by, Henry Brown remembers gleefully accepting the job his father offered him. He was 12 years old and he would be collecting the garbage of homes on Gaspee Point.

The job would take him from house to house on the property that is still owned by the Spring Green Corporation and leased to homeowners, all part of an estate with deep Brown family roots. Brown and his wife Ann live in a house overlooking Occupasstuxet Cove, the southern end of Gaspee Point and the sandy spit that once was Greene Island.

From his porch, it’s easy to imagine not much has changed with the exception of the disappearance of the island after decades of battering storms and a few severe hurricanes. The cove is still. In the distance is the distinguishable outline of Conimicut Light.

But it’s something much closer that holds Henry’s attention and is one of those bits of history that give community character. It’s a tiny blue bloom, an anemic petunia given today’s demand for bold and bashing floral displays. For what it lacks in size the flower makes up with brilliance and fragrance. Further along its reaching tendrils are larger blossoms.

Henry calls them “heritage petunias.” He knows their history – maybe stretching back 100 years, who can say – because he played in role in identifying and preserving them. It goes back to the days he collected garbage on Gaspee Point.

He can’t forget Mrs. Reed.

The Reed family leased a plot of land where they first erected a tent. Later they built a platform for the tent and eventually a house. Always interested in stories and history, Henry was fascinated to learn Mrs. Reed’s mother immigrated from Northern Ireland and her mother and father, who worked in the mills along the Blackstone River, lived in the Providence area. What started out as a Gaspee tent became a summer home and eventually Mrs. Reed’s home.

Mrs. Reed – Henry never knew her first name, he called her Mrs. Reed – always had a glass of ice water waiting for Henry on trash day. She also had stories and one day, pointing out the tiny petunias, she related how her mother brought the seeds from Ireland…or maybe it was Scotland. She wasn’t certain.

Henry didn’t forget the story or the flowers.

Twenty-five to thirty years later, when Spring Green sold the Reed house, Henry spotted the tiny petunias and transplanted several of the flowers. He gave plants and seeds to friends and neighbors, and hence the “heritage petunia” became part of Gaspee lore … all because Henry picked up trash, and even more importantly, history.

Henry, petunias

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