Growing things

My neighbors have turned their entire back yard into an experimental garden.  They are hoping to grow all kinds of vegetables, herbs, trees and some flowers.  I so admire their commitment and ability to grow things.

I used to have a brown thumb, but I’ve gotten better at keeping things alive longer.  The iris bulbs I planted years ago, given to me by a dear friend, bloom every year.  They don’t always last long, and sometimes there are only a few, but the lovely purple flowers remind me that I can plant and grow things.  Of course it’s really God’s design that causes the growth, but I get to be a facilitator and have the joy of seeing the blooms.

This year I’m adding a few pots in amongst the iris to try my hand at container gardening.  We don’t have much sun so it’s hard to grow blooming things, but in this one little strip I think it might work.   I spent a lovely Saturday afternoon messing with potting soil, fertilizer, flower seeds and a watering can – we shall see.

There is also my annual fern.  I say annual because usually there is one freeze yearly my fern can’t survive, and this year the 5 nights of temperatures in the teens did her in.  Each year I drive up to Breeds, my favorite local hardware store, and select the “fern of the year”.  I like the bushy, deep green Boston ferns, but this year they had a slightly different type.  More .. stately somehow, the leaves stand taller and are variegated - Kimberly Queen, a type that originates from Australia.   I picked out the one that called to me – it seems there is always one that wants to go home with me – and placed it gently in the trunk.   I repotted it for the hanging basket, watered and fertilized.  Now to begin enjoying the beauty of a graceful green plant growing over the porch railing.

The Fern of the Year doubles as a home for Carolina Wrens who nest each year in the same spot and hatch their babies.   Just days after I hung the new plant it was visited by this year’s new family.  They love that spot.  I think each year’s family are the babies from the previous year, but who knows.  I only know I love hosting their extended stay – it’s my own private heralding of spring.

I love spring – growing plants, growing baby birds, growing in gratitude for the simple things.