scarlet trumpet, herald of Spring
signal for all bulbs and seeds
wake up and bloom!
Bloom!
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Tag Archives: growing
Transplanting
Cool, rainy days coaxed our roses to bloom- full, fragrant garden gifts. But the two rose bushes that produced this exquisite flowering are not growing strong and healthy. We have a large white crepe myrtle tree and a lovely purple flowering Vitex near our back porch that have grown so tall and full the past 10 years that they provide shade for that part of our garden and porch. Wonderful respite from the heat of summer sun for us when we sit on our porch, but now a threat to the rose bushes. Roses require at least 6 hours of sunlight a day so the spot where they are planted has become too shady for them to remain healthy. We need to move them if they are to survive. I understand I must do certain things to help them make the move: Reduce the plant size, dig a new hole, remove the plant and roots and transfer, nourish the plant by providing the right soil, watering, and not forcing growth by fertilizing too soon.
As I thought about this, wondering if we might do best to remove them and take them to plant in our new house when we move, I was surprised to realize that the same advice applies to us as we get ready to relocate. We have already reduced the quantity of things we need to take with us by clearing clutter, passing on family treasures, selling, and donating. We have found the place where we will be transplanted, along with our son and his family. But we will need to remember the need to stay nourished and avoid forcing too much change too fast.
I am thankful for the plans we have made to be attentive to those things. And maybe we will take two rose bushes along with us to remind us.
Looking forward to blooming in a new spot.
New Again
I have watched the knobby bare branches of our fig tree spread in the past few months, bereft of any sign of life. Now, suddenly, green buds swell and begin waving tiny green flags announcing the approach of another season of leafing and fruiting.
Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the world
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the world
Sweet the rain’s new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass
Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God’s recreation of the new day
Born of the one light, eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God’s recreation of the new day
by English author Eleanor Farjeon and is set to a traditional Scottish Gaelic tune
Warming
snowflake petals shimmer,
grace bony branch fingers
warming under blue sky
“Life is so full of meaning and purpose, so full of beauty beneath its covering, that you will find earth but cloaks your heaven” Fra Giovanni
Moss
tiny garden between flagstones
growing,gathering
spreading green hope
Contentment
moss tendrils twine
unharmed by winter wind and ice
needing nothing more
Spanish Moss is very common in our area of the Texas Gulf Coast, and in many areas of the South. It is not a moss at all, but kin to the pineapple. It needs only the moisture in the air for thriving. A freeze does little damage, so in Spring it comes back and continues to grow. Ice build up might make it heavy enough to fall to the ground. But if it does end up grounded, it is not dead. Tossed back to the trees, it will thrive again. Thinning it actually helps it grow.
Let Advent Begin
Photo by Pert Garraway Night Blooming Cereus
My friend sent me cuttings of her night blooming Cereus plants. She is a good gardener, and as her photo displays, she is an excellent photographer. But she would not be able to share this picture if she were not also willing to sacrifice some sleep (they only bloom at night) as well as patiently wait for the swelling buds to open. I removed my cuttings from their mailing envelope and put them into damp earth. But I, too, must wait as they begin to root and grow and bloom.
As I sit this morning, the first day of Advent, I think of this cycle and am reminded of another gift, the wonder of beginning again, of rooting and growing and waiting to experience the greatest mystery of all. .
Adult Advent Announcement
O Lord,
Let Advent begin again
In us,
Not merely in commercials;
For that first Christmas was not
Simply for children,
But for the
Wise and the strong.
It was
Crowded around that cradle,
With kings kneeling.
Speak to us
Who seek an adult seat this year.
Help us to realize,
As we fill stockings,
Christmas is mainly
For the old folks —
Bent backs
And tired eyes
Need relief and light
A little more.
No wonder
It was grown-ups
Who were the first
To notice
Such a star.
From If I Could Pray Again, by David Redding
Edging
wilted leaf lifts
edged with diamond beads
mercy falling in drops
quenches thirst
Wake
Lichen growing on the gravestone of Opal and Howard Teal, Bullard, Texas
“…their wake reaches us, rocks us.” ~ Denise Levertov
When I visit the graves of my parents, I am not visiting them, I am remembering them, along with many other family members. In the Bullard, Texas cemetery are graves belonging to a number of aunts, uncles, maternal and paternal grandparents and even great grand parents. Lichen spreads and clings to the stones and reminds me of the spreading and clinging of their stories in my life. As the poet quoted above suggests, their “wake” reaches and rocks” me. I have been cradled in their love and faith. I remember. Without opening a single page of written family history, I thank God for lives lived, names that roll easily off my tongue.
Opal and HOward Teal
Veda and Woodrow Teal
Clyde and Ky Terrell
Ida and Tom Teal
Edna and Leo Warnick
Lela and Dewey Kirkpatrick
Wayne Kirkpatirick
Earnestine Matilde Curley
John Wesley and Elen Terrell
Vinnon Grady Terrell
Alice Stripling
plus many others whose names and stories I know even though I may not bring them to my mind at this moment, some who lived and died before I was born!
Alleluia!
For All the Saints (1864)
For all the saints who from their labor rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blessed,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
O blest communion, fellowship divine.
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia! Alleluia.
From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
Singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost,
Alleluia! Alleluia!
William How
Vulnerability
vulnerable
transparent
available
hanging hearts
Stones and Feathers 