Okay, spring. It’s a wonder. And a miracle. I know it happens each year, pretty predictably. And I’m not exactly amazed. I’m re-amazed, I guess.
I also understand that, globally, spring is different as it moves northward through latitudes. And it is different as it moves through the various topographical zones across our country. So the plants you love and tend probably aren’t the ones that take up my time. Your wonders and miracles may be different from mine. But they are wondrous and miraculous, too. Aren’t they!
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- In spring of 2013, I planted three hosta plants in the shady side yard where ferns grow. They died back in the winter. But I was pleased to see them returning in the spring of 2014, ahead of the ferns.
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- The ferns returned, too, loving the shade and the sprinklers, and I bought three more hostas.
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- Some of the hostas bloomed. That smaller, thin-leafed hosta, interesting as it was, did not like . . . something. The ferns? It’s other hosta friends? I don’t know. But it died off pretty quickly.
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- They did all right for a while. Then, slowly, individually, they died. All of them. I decided maybe the sprinklers didn’t do a good enough job of reaching that farthest spot, and it was too dry for them. I was so sad. I thought that this year, maybe I would buy one, or two, new hostas (they are kind of expensive), and try a different spot on the north, where it’s so shady, and the sprinklers really do keep the ferns alive, even through the heat . . .
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- I was flabbergasted when, this spring, THREE of them came up! I dug them up, moved them to a different part of the side yard, dug them nice, new spaces, bought a new cousin for them (the bluest one, on the right), and some new fern friends (greyish), and they seem to like it. We’ll see how it goes. And I think I’ll wait quite a while before buying any more hostas, just to be sure this is a good space after all.
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- When I planted the new hostas, last year, I dug up some ferns to make room for them. I put the ferns in a pot; they drooped. I watered them when I thought about it, they grew all right. They died back with the first hard freeze, as do the ones in the ground at the north side of the house. Those come back, reliably. After I started watering this pot, these ferns returned, too! Wondrous!
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- We got these amarillys from neighbors who were moving into a condo and could not take their plants. The first year, I was careful and moved them indoors/outdoors/indoors/outdoors, depending on the weather. They bloomed all right.
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- This past year, I left them out on the back yard patio. All winter. With no protection. At all. Looks like a good decision, doesn’t it.
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- I bought this strawberry plant because it makes pink flowers instead of white ones. It bore a few berries last year, small and not all that good. It stayed on the back patio all winter. And look, it seems pleased with itself. The plant on the right came from a runner that settled in and grew a new plant. It was a runner that stretched down to the pot beneath, sat itself down, and rooted. I sooooo admire that in a plant. Love the self-sufficient ones!
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- I talked a few weeks ago about the bee population swirling around the holly flowers. Here are the berries. Both trees are covered.
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- Here’s that Constance girl. She stays on the front porch year ’round. I water her when I think about it, which is more rare than it should be. She seems to like being left alone.
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- As much as I complain about the squirrels scurrying away with our fall pecans and planting them in the garden, or, in this case, in a potted plant, I do have to stop and feel the wonder. There’s the pecan, the seed, still attached to the root, that knows to grow down into the earth, and the stem, that knows to grow up, towards the sun. What a wonder! What a miracle!
Of course, in the Southern Hemisphere, fall is coming, with its own beauty in amazing things. Sometimes plants and animals that I will never see. Well, unless I Google it. (Is that with an upper case “G” or a lower case “g?”)
Because of the Lord’s faithful love
we do not perish,[a]
for His mercies never end.They are new every morning;
great is Your faithfulness!
Lamentations 3:22-23 (HCSB)
Thank You, God, for Your wonders and Your miracles and Your faithfulness. Every morning. Every day.
This makes me so happy. Just one more reason we are friends–a love of and wonder about our gardens. ❤️
This makes me so happy. Just one more reason we are friends–a shared love of and wonder about our gardens. ❤️ Jim always just grins at me when I come in from our yard in the Spring giddy over my plants popping back up.
Sometimes I’m a little grumpy when winter is coming to an end, because it means the hot horrid summer is right around the corner. But I’ve forgotten about the amazing wonderment of spring. I’m like a little kid–Look at that!! Look at that!! Hey!! Look at that! Miraculous.
“Stop and share God’s wonders!” Job 37:14 How can we keep from singing when spring is bursting forth? The birds are faithful to and even if our hearts are heavy with sadness, the wonders of the Lord are ever there assuring us of His presence. Thanks for the beautifully written and shown blog.
I noticed this week a new spike on my orchid plant & was thrilled. I so baby my pathetic orchids and this one surprised me by blooming this winter with a lovely,long lasting blossom. When they dropped, I thought that was that. But this week, I notice a spike as grown out of the one that bloomed earlier. “Thank you Lord.!