Watching Growth
It is often said that good things come to those who wait and I know that is true while waiting for the garden to bloom. I have a pretty good idea about what's in store but there are so many plants to watch and wonder about. Tonight our dinner salad had red lettuce and parsley from the garden as well as leaves from a wild edible I found we had growing profusely in one of the container plants. The taste isn't anything out of the ordinary, kind of mild, but it has lots of vitamins and it's kind of pretty. Tonight I noticed it's growing all over the edge of the garden proper too. I think it's funny I tore it out last year and this year we will eat it. Gardening teaches the lesson of waiting and patience; the importance of using what you have around you and being conscious of what works well in your particular environment and not fighting the season. It is a source of infinite wonder, a marvelous play of death and resurrection.
This is my first year with a native azalea. I planted two of them last year in April. The blossoms were really beautiful and I hoped they would bloom all summer but their spectacular season was relatively brief. As the summer went on the plants looked kind of straggly and I wasn't sure if they were dying or if this was just their way. Then this winter they looked so sad and brittle I didn't think there was much hope that they would live. But, happily, last week there were signs of life. Tiny buds have appeared and some larger buds that seemed to have stagnated all winter are now beginning to bloom too. So now I anticipate their progress every day. I can't help but think my family is a little nutty for not joining me in my daily vigil of staring at each plant, looking for changes. Okay, maybe watching plants grow is not for everyone but to me it is a real and true pleasure of life. I'm pretty sure the best medicine for anger and depression is to turn off the stupid, addictive, negative chatter that permeates our daily lives so you have time to go outside and grow something. A garden may occasionally disappoint but it is never corrupt or greedy. It is not always showy but it is always interesting. It likes you to give it attention but expects nothing. If you participate in it, it is certain to show you joy.
This is my first year with a native azalea. I planted two of them last year in April. The blossoms were really beautiful and I hoped they would bloom all summer but their spectacular season was relatively brief. As the summer went on the plants looked kind of straggly and I wasn't sure if they were dying or if this was just their way. Then this winter they looked so sad and brittle I didn't think there was much hope that they would live. But, happily, last week there were signs of life. Tiny buds have appeared and some larger buds that seemed to have stagnated all winter are now beginning to bloom too. So now I anticipate their progress every day. I can't help but think my family is a little nutty for not joining me in my daily vigil of staring at each plant, looking for changes. Okay, maybe watching plants grow is not for everyone but to me it is a real and true pleasure of life. I'm pretty sure the best medicine for anger and depression is to turn off the stupid, addictive, negative chatter that permeates our daily lives so you have time to go outside and grow something. A garden may occasionally disappoint but it is never corrupt or greedy. It is not always showy but it is always interesting. It likes you to give it attention but expects nothing. If you participate in it, it is certain to show you joy.
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