Thriving

The days are longer now, the weather warmer and the prayer plants are reaching up lots of new leaves! New growth is happening all over the place--indoors and out.

It’s often said that adversity makes people “grow.” I’ve long doubted that* and I see little evidence of it in the plant world. Plants can overcome great odds and grow anyway but they grow the best in good conditions.

When I look out the window at the beautiful white pear blossoms, I feel almost as though I’m living in a story book. I don’t even notice the smell anymore.


*The Bible does speak of spiritual growth coming from “tribulations” but the context of these is always that of suffering persecution for Jesus’ name sake—not the everyday hassles, not sickness or tragedy.

Sooner or Later

The majority of the states in the U.S. turned all clocks forward an hour for Daylight Savings Time on Saturday night—technically early Sunday morning for those who stayed up that late. Everyone I talked to feels a mild jet lag—that is, if they knew about it (if you don’t watch the news you can be an hour off for awhile).

While I’m not happy about having my circadian rhythm thrown off twice a year—“spring forward; fall back,” I had the advantage this morning of being at the window just as the sun shone its pink rays, and I will definitely enjoy having more daylight at the end of the day. The mornings will catch up soon.

Over the weekend while on our errands we saw rows and rows of Bradford Pears in full bloom, yellow forsythia, even my favorite—redbuds, were beginning their beautiful fuchsia show.

A mockingbird came to visit the balcony garden this morning but I didn’t have my camera in hand so I stayed and watched it flip its tail up and down several times before flying away. Sometimes it’s better to be present in the moment than to risk missing it while grabbing the camera.

Full Regalia

At last, the Bradford Pear has fully bloomed. Streets are lined with them but I get to see one right outside the window. That’s the best way to view them—through a window. Unfortunately Bradford Pear trees’ beauty is for eyes only—not noses. They stink!

Spring is on its conveyor belt now—no turning back. Since we have an “early” Resurrection Day this year, we’ll probably still be a-bloom in colorful celebration.

Now Appearing

While I was away yesterday, the pear blossoms finally popped open—at least a few did while the rest are “sitting on ready.”


The northern part of town hasn’t shown many signs of spring yet—but these bloodroot wildflowers (in a public garden) were blooming profusely among new fern fronds and an occasional trillium.

There’s no stopping spring now. Even if it turns cold again—and it probably will, or snows (stranger things have happened), according to the plants, it’s still spring!

Color on the Rise

The Bradford Pear outside our window seems eager to open its buds! I wish I had taken my camera on our weekend excursions! The flowering crabs are in their full soft red violet array. Entire streets are now lined with the young trees!

We even saw forsythia blooming! My husband says, “Now I know it’s spring when the forsythia blooms.” My grandmother used to talk about the lovely bushes with their four point yellow star-shaped flowers but I never saw one outside of garden catalog photos until we moved east. They’re now some of my favorites. Maybe I should have bought the cheery bouquet of yellow-flowering branches; they would have surely brightened this chilly gray day.

Nipped in the Bud

A low rumble vibrates the building as tree-trimmers buzz their way through Bradford Pear limbs—the extreme version of “nip it in the bud”. There will be at least one less large branch to blossom in the spring, yet the concern that Bradford Pears’ notoriously brittle branches when laden with ice or snow will fall on a car or person is valid.


Meanwhile we’re barricaded by the branch, fallen across the sidewalk—but yes, I remember there is another outlet…I just went outside to check it, but no, it’s blocked as well. So I’m praying for the safety of the trimmers in their mechanical buckets, and that I don’t have an emergency that requires me to get out quickly--I could though, eventually climb through the branches.

Now the grinding—the pulverizing, begins; branches spew out as “mulch” into the waiting truck.

Better Late Than Never

Happy second day of Christmas! We once had a pastor who emphasized that Christmas isn’t just one day but twelve, and the relative freedom and relaxation that comes from not being so frenzied. There’s also less of a let-down he insisted. That resonated in my spirit.

Not only did we see periwinkles and a few azaleas blooming in the mild Christmas weather (50’s) but daffodils! The buds of the Bradford pear outside the window are also eager to burst forth. The really amazing bloom though is the bud I found on the “bronze-leafed plant”; this is the one that the plant vendor insisted, “Remember, it has to be really hot before it will bloom.” It was really hot last summer but no blooms and now it’s not and it’s beginning to bloom. Oh well, better late than never and I’m glad for flowers any time I can get them!

Maybe this winter won’t be too bad after all. I’ve always strongly disliked winter until I read in Psalms that God created the winter (Psalm 74:17). Since then, I’ve been asking the Lord to teach me how to appreciate winter. My friend the (small) garden center owner says that we need winter to “wipe out the bugs. Without it, they’d take over.” Amen to that!