The signs of spring are peaking out of the winter slumber. Take this shrub for instance - one day drab, the next day - full of spring.
Even if you're stuck in a snow drift right now -where can you see signs of spring? How does the renewal of spring influence your emotions? Mood?
I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries.
About two years ago my friend gave me a cutting from her angel trumpet. It basically looked like a stick with a few leaves on top.
I kept the faith and watered it and cared for it as instructed. This summer, the plant had a growth spurt and the leaves grew bigger and bigger.
In true fashion, the angel trumpet drops its leaves and another one grows back in its place. I started to get nervous when it continued to drop leaves and not grow them back - that's when I noticed the pod.
The pod looked liked a piece of okra and I couldn't figure out if it was a seed pod or the beginning of a bloom.
I asked my friend and she told me to take photos of it and take it to the local nursery for a second opinion.
The verdict - put it in a bigger pot and everything should be fine.
I re-potted the plant and debated myself about cutting off the pod in order to maintain the health of the plant. I almost cut it off - yet something told me to wait.
Within a week the pod started to grow and soon I realized that it was a bloom.
My friend's angel trumpet is a peach color, so I assumed that mine would be the same. By the looks of this bloom, I have a yellow angel trumpet.
I released my attachment to the bloom being peach and embraced the brilliant yellow.
That night as I check my plants to see if they needed water, I saw something amazing - the angel trumpet in mid-bloom.
And the bloom looked to be a bit pink in color.
The angel trumpet continued to bloom that night and when I got up the next morning, I had an amazing surprise - a pink bloom.
What miracles occur in your life daily? How can you "bloom" each day to raise your energy?
I'd love to hear you comments and discoveries.
I jumped for joy when I received the green light to become the resident landscaper at my apartment.
For years, the vegetation has been lacking and I've longed for the opportunity to take action.
As much as I'd love to cut down and take out all the diseased and dying vegetation in a few days, I must pace myself. The trash pick-up is Monday and Thursday mornings and I have to leave room for the other residents to put their trash (or else I'd go on a chop-a-thon).
I'll be posting the before, during and after photos so you can see my progress.
Much like the idea that it has to get worse before it gets better - yes, the building may start to look a bit bare, yet it will be worth it when the new sprinklers are installed and I can begin planting in the fall.
My fellow tenants requested that I start on a diseased cypress beside the hall gate.
After about 4 trash collections, I had removed the top portion of the cypress and then spent about four hours digging out the root of the cypress (not too bad) and removing the thorny vine growing next to it.
The vine's root ball took two of the four hours to remove, while I only spent about an hour on the cypress root.
I felt triumphant as I removed the final pieces of the root.
Sure, it might look a bit bare and not too appealing, yet in the coming months I will fill the space with healthy and colorful vegetation.
Cypress flowerbed before:
Cypress flowerbed after:
Even though the cypress in the flowerbed looks green and pretty - that's just the outer layer. The inside was dead and diseased.
I found the following items in the cypress as I removed it:
Who knows what I'll find in my next cutting.
I found that working in the flowerbed supported me to rejuvenate, clear my head and be outside and enjoy nature. What bliss.
How does patience show up in your life? What would it look like to take one of your goals and create a plan with "micro" steps?
I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries!
Many moons ago, I purchased a geranium. Now, I didn't know much about geraniums at the time, yet I knew what color I wanted - purple.
The week before, I'd seen all sorts of purple geraniums in bloom at the garden center, yet when I returned to purchase one - not one purple bloom.
I did, however, find a small flat that had a few (according to the card stuck in the pot) purple geraniums that weren't in bloom. I took a chance and purchased one.
The geranium didn't like its new home and thought that it would be much more productive to lose all of its leaves and die a slow death.
After experiencing the positive progress of my replanting of a discarded geranium from my apartment complex (people leave all of their plants in pots outside my building when they move out) that was on death's door, I figured it couldn't hurt to put my twig of a plant in the outside flowerbed.
It didn't take it long to root and grow a few new leaves - yet no sign of blooms. Alas, I kept the faith that the blooms would appear.
The geranium grew healthier and began to show signs of expansive growth just about the time I left for a month to take care of my parents' home.
The day I returned, I visited the plants and noticed that the geranium had a few buds hanging from its stem. Excitement! The plant knew to wait for my return before blooming (well, this is how I like to see it).
About a week later - we have liftoff! Wahoo!
If you look closely, you can see the red and white geranium in the background - the almost dead plant I rescued from a moving discard.
How does patience and faith play into your freedom? What would it look like to infuse a bit of faith into a challenging situation?
I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries!
I went from house-sitting in Oklahoma to house-sitting in California.
My friend is in England - so I've been taking care of the cats, plants and the like.
What's the cool bonus of house-sitting? Tomatoes!
I have been instructed to pick and eat any ripe tomatoes from her vines and man has this been delightful.
Currently I'm eating cherry tomatoes and white mini-cherry tomatoes. Yum!
What's the prize in your Cracker Jacks (Cracker Jacks = Life)? Where do you find little surprises in your every day?
I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries!
After returning from being home, I had an interesting discovery: My Christmas cactus had grown friends.
After my initial shock and hours of being grossed out, I called the garden center.
The lady at the garden center was super nice and told me to bring it in and they would have a look.
Turns out the mushrooms/fungi is an easy fix. The lady at the garden center pulled off all of the fungi and gave me some spray to use.
Instead of focusing on what was going "wrong," the garden center lady kept telling me all the great things about my Christmas cactus - how healthy it looked and its great condition.
How can you focus on what's going "right?" What does it do for you to switch from what's going wrong to what's going right? How does it feel?
I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries.
Leucocoprinus birnbaumii
Thought I'd share a few more photos of the flowers that made my mom smile when traveling in Alaska.
Now, take a deep breath and enjoy!
Even though the flower growing season is short, Alaskans use everything they can get their hands on to grow flowers.
A wildflower doesn't care if the soil is made of rocks. This "getting-ready-to-bloom" plant doesn't see the rock as an obstacle - it sees it as an opportunity.
How can you shift your "obstacles" into opportunities? How can you apply the Alaskan wildflower's excitement to grow to your everyday "tasks?"
I'd love to hear your comments and discoveries!
Recent Comments