Surprise!

I have been browsing the plants in the yard of our current home.  Some are familiar; others, I have researched.  And still others, I have simply shrugged thinking I will learn…eventually! 

There is a group of plants growing around a tree in our yard.  As I observed them, I assumed that they were unfamiliar.

They looked a little scrubby, sort of worn out from the wind and the rain.  But, a perennial, six inches tall.  I shrugged again.

Any ideas…?

Then…in passing, I noticed some color…

Laughter!

Perennial!

Petunia!

Again- surprises under foot, at every turn!  Have a happy week, Growers!

 

Color-full.

I have landed in a climate that I know very little about.  As I round corners, I see some of my favorite horticultural standbys; daffodils, hyacinth, flowering trees, creeping thyme, daylily.  I sigh, “Hello, old friend.  So nice to see your shining face.  And here you are, so early in the spring season!”

Then, as our car curves around a tight bend in the road, we discover new friends.  Wow. “Mama, what is that?”

And I exclaim, “I have no IDEA!”

So, to the library we go.  Our nearby, literary resource for learning about the life of the ocean and the plants that grow abundantly in this area.

 

Excitement.  Yes, I will need to be kept reined in.  Rhododendrons, magnolia treees, hellebores, camellias, bay laurel…did I mention all of the lavender varieties?

After years of horticultural comfort, I reaching out.  I am growing!

Emerging.

We are learning about fog.  Another new sensation. A thick blanket of moisture in the air, covering your skin, your eyes.  The distant call of the jetty horn.

As fog surrounds us, we are emerging from another fog.  The fog of change, release, grief. It closes in tight, stormy and heavy.  But now, there are colors beginning to emerge. We are beginning to see a little more clearly, taking in the sights, the beauty.  Spring, routines, laughter in place of fog. It is freeing to come out of the fog.  It always lifts, eventually

And, as the fog lifts from our hearts and minds, we learn for the first time in our lives that spring can come during March!  We will celebrate the first days of spring in just a few weeks.  And with those days; color, tender green shoots, hidden surprises to treasure, ocean waves to calm our thoughts and many, many new lessons to learn.