Monthly Archives: April 2014

April 28, 2014 · 2:25 am

TULIP TIME

One of the last things I do at the end of the gardening season each fall

Is one of the first things to bloom come spring.

Tulips

It’s a gift we gardeners give ourselves.

Just at the end of the season

When we’re almost too tired to do another thing

And our knees really don’t want to bend down

Comes the time to plant Tulips.

Some years it’s hard to get it done.

But when spring comes I’m oh so grateful that I did.

Last fall I planted the path to the garden house

With my favorite varieties

Packed the trenches

Covered them with pansies

And let them sleep.

We had also added a new bed on the landing in the front.

Which was planted with a new variety

Of tulips called French blend.

They have proved to be perfect for this spot.

This variety bloomed a little later than those in the back.

Which has turned out to be a good thing.

You see this is a very sunny place.

Surrounded by bricks

Without a drip line.

So the only thing I know to plant there for summer is periwinkles.

But since periwinkles don’t like cold wet weather

You have to wait till May to plant them.

So having a tulip that is still blooming

This last weekend in April works well.

They’ll last a few more days

Then it will be time to pull them up

And plant again.

The cycle goes on.

Gail

EASTER – CHILDREN – GARDENS

Sometimes holding an annual event

Can be well…dicey. Expectations increase.

People can get tired of the same thing.

The odds for good weather decrease.

Not so if children are involved

And Easter eggs filled with candy.

So, yesterday we hosted the 3rd

I’d say it’s safe to say Annual 1st Presbyterian Church Easter Egg.

Each year Kay, master of children’s Christian education

Mixes things up a bit.

And this year we decided to invite the families

Of our neighboring church St. Matthews Episcopal.

We have been lucky with the weather all these years.

And this year was no exception.

It was a glorious afternoon.

And to top it off The Redbud trees were still in full bloom

Providing a marvelous backdrop for

The blanket of tulips leading up to the garden house.

Now you realize this is just luck.

No gardener has any say about when things bloom in the spring.

And if you try to plan it – it simply will not happen.

So you might as well just give it up

And hope for the best.

This is an attitude I’ve had to learn.

Fortunately, I had an excellent teacher.

My mother was the most relaxed hostess I’ve ever known.

Oh she would get “flustered” as she would say.

But she learned during the wild ride of her life.

To relax and enjoy it.

So yesterday as 50 or 60 children

(We don’t really know how many came.)

Were running through the garden.

Releasing lady bugs

Listening to the resurrection story

Exploring the compost pile

Trying out the chimney of the outdoor fireplace

And gathering Easter Eggs

One child brought back a wonderful memory of my mother

And the grace that she showed so many people during her life.

It happened during a family Sunday School Class party

Of many of these very people.

It was in the late 1980’s and we decided to have the party

At my parent’s home in the city.

Big house – big yard – big draw.

Dozens of us showed up and swarmed the place.

At one point several young mothers were standing in the kitchen

Visiting with mother as Cristina, maybe 3 or so

Appeared with a bouquet of flowers for the hostess.

Freshly picked from her own flower beds.

Beth, her mother, turned ashen.

Mother bent down and thanked

And likely hugged Cristina.

She was thrilled with the gift.

So yesterday

When I noticed Kay’s granddaughter

Walking along the garden house path

Snapping off tulips

I smiled

Then laughed

What a gift this memory is.

Children and Gardens and God.

If you don’t have children to invite into your garden.

I hope you’ll find some

To teach about nature

And grace.

Happy Easter,

Gail

4 Comments

Filed under Easter Baskets, Easter Egg Hunt, Garden House, Gardening Friends, Redbud Trees, spring, Spring Flowering Bulbs, tulips

Tagged as Children and Gardens, Easter Egg Hunt, Lady Bugs, Redbud Trees, Tulips

April 14, 2014 · 12:18 am

DISSONANT HARMONY

Sometimes I forget

Just how much

Music and gardens have in common.

Until this morning.

Before I left for church I reminded myself

When I get home to cut that single RED tulip

Blooming wildly in the midst

Of all those perfect pastel beauties.

It has somehow survived the year

And returned to bloom again.

But it doesn’t fit into this year’s color scheme

So…off with it’s head.

I thought.

It’s probably the only tulip

That’s ever been saved from cutting

By the tenor section!

Here’s how.

We were practicing for our annual

“Palms to Passion” service this morning.

Doing a simple yet glorious version of

“God So Loved the World”

We were sounding pretty good

Except for one measure when those aforementioned tenors

Were moving from note to note ahead of us

The melody loving soprano section.

The tenors should know this by now.

I thought.

Then I took a moment

And actually looked at the music.

They were singing it correctly.

Our parts were not the same.

We, the sopranos, were the dissonant ones.

Intended to be different from one another.

Imagine that…

Dissonant harmony in a church choir.

For some reason

This moment really resonated with me

And I began thinking that

Music is like a garden

Which is like life.

Sometimes it’s the very things that sound off tune

That resolve into true beauty.

It’s the differences that make us richer

And deeper.

Sameness is comfortable

Appealing initially.

But it is in the bounty of difference

That we experience the true nature

Of all that God created.

Music and gardens.

Some of Her best work!

Gail

1 Comment

Filed under Gratitude, Redbud Trees, spring, Spring Flowering Bulbs, tulips

Tagged as Difference, Music, Palm Sunday, Redbud Trees, Tulips

April 7, 2014 · 12:59 am

EMERGING HOPE

The last few weeks I’ve spent removing the blanket of leaves from my garden.

It’s a tedious but necessary task.

Last fall John mowed up the leaves from the yard

And dumped them on my garden.

It’s a natural way to protect the garden from winter.

I’m grateful he took the time to chop and distribute all those leaves.

But once spring begins.

It’s time to remove the blanket

And let the sunshine in.

This is not a quick haphazard job.

It needs to be done carefully

To protect the tender shoots

Emerging from their winter’s sleep.

The new life that is sprouting forth.

As a result I spend hours on the ground

At eye level

Observing miracle after miracle.

Nurturing the garden

And my soul.

Each spring I am in awe of this process.

What may look like a garden of dirt one week

Will quickly begin to unfurl

With hope.

And hope does not disappoint us.

Gail

Monthly Archives: April 2014

TULIP TIME

EASTER – CHILDREN – GARDENS

DISSONANT HARMONY

EMERGING HOPE

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