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The Flower Girls of Flower Hill are Constable George Crabtree's aunts. George seems to have a large number of them whose experiences he shares at various times throughout the Murdoch Mysteries series, often with wry or humourous results. Amusingly, all carry names of flowers or other plants.

In the Season 7 episode Republic of Murdoch, Detective Murdoch meets George's aunts for the first time in person after traveling to Newfoundland for a case

Aunt Azalea, Daisy, Marigold (credited), Dahlia and Iris welcomed them warmly. It is then revealed that they are all prostitutes.

When he was 3, George moved to Newfoundland with the Reverend. Shortly afterward the Reverend decided to rent out the rectory to his aunts. It was a tough life for a dock girl back then and they suffered for their trade. So, the Reverend and his aunts made a deal: they could stay in the rectory as long as they ran a respectable business. All the customers had to wear a tie, no exceptions. The aunts had to save their money, look out for one another, and go to church every Sunday. It was Aunt Daisy's idea that they call themselves The Flower Girls of Flower Hill; Sometimes, a gentlemen caller would bring the flower of the girl he was calling on. Murdoch tells George, "Your reverend was a very wise man."

During Season 9, lead by Aunt Azalea, they surprise George in the stand-alone holiday special, A Merry Murdoch Christmas. In Season 11, George mentions his aunts in Home for the Holidays.

Alphabetical List & Statistics

From Season 1 to the end of Season 8:

We have been introduced to these aunts in the course of various episodes (15 named):

Amaryllis, Aster, Azalea, Begonia, Bryony, Clematis, Dahlia, Daisy, Hyacinth, Iris, Ivy, Marigold, Nettle, Petunia, Primrose. There is the nameless "my aunt" as well.

There have been 21+ mentions of aunts in 19+ episodes, as well as 2 uncles, Calvert and Percy, and one cousin, Penny.

During a panel interview at Fan Expo 2013, Jonny Harris and Yannick Bisson joked about the fact of the aunts' names being flowers. They were asked what names they knew and they spontaneously suggested "Chrysanthemum", "Dandelion", "Lily" and "Willow."

Getting Acquainted

"My Aunt" (without a name; could be one person or several) is mentioned in four early episodes:

  • Collects bottles of scented bath oil (ep.108),
  • Believes that the world is 6000 years old "based on the Bible of course", and that it was made in 6 days "and that's an end of it" (ep.203),
  • George took "his Aunt" to Ringling Bros. Circus a couple of years ago (ep.307),
  • Was very fond of the lilac flower (ep.308).

Amaryllis

Aster

  • Named in a partial list of aunts (ep.312).

Azalea

  • Named in a partial list of aunts (ep.312),
  • Introduced (708), she used to read George a bedtime story about a treasure map and three brothers .
  • Taught George how to properly tie a man's bow tie (ep.804: 100th episode of the series!).

Begonia

  • Named in a partial list of aunts (ep.312),
  • Died laughing, literally, when Uncle Calvert fell off the milking stool (ep.301),
  • Made George's suit (ep.610),
  • Is mentioned by Jonny Harris at the Fan Expo 2013, hinted at appearing in Season 7.

Bryony

  • Named in a partial list of aunts (ep.312),
  • ". . . and that's just the A's and B's!" says George in (ep.313).

Clematis

  • Worked in a brick kiln in Coboconk (2 hours north of Toronto – by carriage perhaps?) (ep.401).

Chrysanthemum

Dahlia

  • George was cut off speech just as he says her name; he may have connected her to something about Sasquatch (ep.411),
  • Introduced in (ep.708).

Daisy

  • Introduced (ep.708).

Dandelion

Fern

  • George uses his Aunt Fern's apple beef ball recipe (ep.1113).

Hyacinth

  • Baked rhubarb pie that George sat in once; he learned how to clean stains from that (ep.606).

Iris

  • Mentioned as having a low opinion of Aunt Primrose; called her a gluttonous imbecile once (not to her face) (ep.312),
  • Introduced (ep.708).

Ivy

  • Not to be confused with the circus performer in Blood and Circuses episode
  • Used to lower George down the chimney to clean it; it was going to be his occupation at one time (ep.609 )

Lily

Magnolia

  • George once dug out her cellar; it took him "three Saturdays" to dig a hole "the length of the house" (ep.711)

Marigold

  • Mentioned by George as he attempts to comment on the competitiveness of women (ep.707),
  • Introduced (ep.708)
  • "If you don't try, you'll never know where trying may have taken you." Aunt Marigold's words of wisdom quoted by George to Miss James (ep.916).

Nettle

  • Her farm near Haileybury had vermin that George eradicated by hurling stones at them, thus developing his pitching arm (ep.507)
  • Had something to do with a small pot that was used to flush the sinuses of infection, like a neti-pot (ep.705)
  • Left Haileybury because she didn't like moose (ep.811)

Petunia

  • Not to be confused with the character in Power.
  • Works at a lunch counter near Toronto City Hall, where the mayor takes his lunch (ep.502),
  • George tells Aunt Azalea that he sees Aunt Petunia - who is getting stouter - every Monday at the lunch counter (ep.708).

Primrose

  • Saw the ghost of Uncle Percy at the foot of her bed six months after his death (ep.310),
  • Says any girl can dress like a lady if she has an eye for value (ep 312),
  • Murdoch is prompted to call her "a fount of wisdom" (ep.312), but George demurs, quoting Aunt Iris (see above),
  • Caught a snake in her hands in Peterborough (ep.505),
  • Used to send George to fetch hats all the time, which built his knowledge of millinery (ep.603),
  • Goes to Saint Alban's church (in Toronto) where the reverend is a tippler (ep.606),
  • Is mentioned by Jonny Harris at the Fan Expo 2013, hinted to appear in Season 7.

Rose

  • Her pickled cauliflower looks like bottled brains to George (ep.806).

Willow

Zinnia

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