From the Roots

A plant such as this ruellia and the pineapple sage below can look as dead as can be if you look solely at their branches. However, new growth springs often up from the roots.


In his “Parable of the Sower,” Jesus emphasized the necessity of good roots for plants and for people,

“As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.”

“The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away ( Matthew 13:4-6; 20-21).”

In order to withstand the harassments of this life that can scorch you dry,
go deep into reading the Bible (especially the New Testament) and obeying Jesus’ teachings

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.

Pentas A-Plenty

The deep pink penta is in full bloom, probably more than it bloomed outdoors. They do, as it turns out make good indoor plants; I wouldn’t have expected it.

I’ll take them back out to the balcony garden though when the weather warms for more than a day or two. It has worked out really well to have the various plants indoors since we have such good window space but I’ve never had this many indoors before and I’m eager to get some of the them out into fresh air.

This morning I trimmed some straggly branches off the Angelonias and look forward to more fresh new growth.

Hope Instead

Where one leaf of the Hawaiian Ti plant had to be removed, six more have taken its place and are growing well. To me it’s a sign of hope that where one thing goes wrong, the Lord Jesus can bring in many good things to take its place. These new leaves are slow-growing but growing steadily.

Cold weather has returned with frigid, blustery winds. After “Noah’s flood”, God covenanted with Noah:

“As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease” (Genesis 8:22).

Cold (“global warming” notwithstanding) and heat will never go away as long as we’re on this earth so we’d better learn to deal with them especially since they are a promise of good. What a paradigm shift!

Reaching

The avocado plant has now lost all of its old leaves and the new branch is reaching for the ceiling—at a slight angle, one of the branches, that is. The second branch, tiny as it is, is still green and may just make it; last time the second branch just turned black and fell off. I read the other day that after a year or two, avocadoes begin branching naturally. Though it’s not been the case with my other avocado, which did respond to pruning, maybe this one will decide that the pass-through window frame is the limit and begin branching—or it might curve. We’ll see.

The sun warmed the morning; I soaked in some vitamin D while I could, but now clouds are already gathering for tomorrow’s rain. I hope the sun returns today; I need it.

Surprising Places

I generally expect new growth to come from the end of a plant’s stem but happily, this prayer plant is sprouting new growth from the base, giving the plant more fullness. It’s also a hopeful sign philosophically in that new growth in life and character can pop up in places you don’t expect. That encourages my heart.

Earlier, as many as eight or ten blue jays congregated on the deciduous tree (mulberry?) beyond the balcony! Amazing! I’m not used to seeing blue jays in flocks; I thought they were all males but I found a neat site:all-birds.com that says both male and female are “blue above with a crest, and a black necklace.” The site also has a place to click to hear the blue jay’s call (very cool), which mimics the hawk’s.

I could surely use some sunshine this gray day but I’ll have to look for it in the Lord’s presence instead of from the sun. Funny, as soon as I wrote that, the sun started showing itself. It is, after all, God’s servant.

Slow & Steady

In looking through my indoor garden on this cold gray day to see what I might write about, I found nothing spectacular—tiny new leaves on the crotons and the Hawaiian Ti, the smallest beginnings of hibiscus blooms. Nothing but small, steady growth, which is of course, what gardens do—grow. And that’s good. Most plants are reaching for the sun and need turning to avoid leggy growth.

In fact, if my plants were experiencing rapid growth I’d be overrun. Slow and steady growth can be a very good thing.

Only Temporary

The recent pruning of the avocado plant has proved to be traumatic since all the remaining leaves have withered and curled up. I feel about like that though I felt immediately better than I was after prayer at church yesterday.

However, at the very top of the plant--on either side of the cut, are two new branches emerging. As W. at church said yesterday this cold, and I would add, the trauma to the avocado plant, are temporary.

Starting Small

A mockingbird came to visit my outdoor garden this morning then joined a flock flying around the small trees in the natural area. I heard again the bird call that sounded like the screeching of a swing as it rides its bar; circumstantial evidence would attach the sound to the mockingbirds but I couldn’t be sure. Are any of you birders? What bird makes that sound?

The prayer plant baby has more leaves and one more has spots! Another has the slightest shadow of the spots to come.

The prayer plant gets its name from its habit of folding its leaves upward at night—like praying hands. I don’t mean to force this comparison but it came to mind naturally as I watered this morning; just as these baby prayer plant leaves will become larger and stronger, prayers to God can start small and as you pray more, they’ll likely get stronger and larger as you stay with it and get to know him. You can start where you are*.

*Simple heart-felt prayers such as, “Help me Jesus!” and “Thank you Jesus!” carry a lot of weight in heaven.

Beyond Corsages

I was having such a good time in my art studio this morning that I didn’t want to leave so I’m running a bit late in posting today.

When I was a child I thought that the orchid corsages that all the ladies loved to wear for Mother’s Day and weddings were ugly. I couldn’t imagine why anyone would like yellow green or brownish pink flowers. Now that I’ve gotten to know some of the vast orchid family (the largest genus of flowers on earth), I’m smitten by them. From the yellow green and, brownish pink cymbidiums to the floaty white and fuchsia phalaenopsis or moth orchid, I can’t get enough. I love to paint them—especially the wildly colorful ruffled cattleyas in orange, magenta, red, photographing them at a local university greenhouse.

I attempt growing phalaenopsis—with hope, and I do well with growing their leaves once the flowers are spent. Alas, it’s orchid bloom season but my phalaenopsis isn’t blooming though it did make a new plant. I’m afraid to separate the two but maybe one day I will; I keep hoping the new one will bloom though if it did the flower stalk would come out upside-down. Maybe I can find some fertilizer* that’s not too chemically.

*My botany professor also insisted that, “fertilizer is not plant food—it’s fertilizer!”

No Bells

On mornings like this when I’m having trouble getting started—the nature of Mondays, gardening along with some lively music helps get me started.

While checking over the outdoor plants (brrr) I found that even the die-hard Million Bells were no longer blooming. However, I did find some new growth. In January. Outdoors.

Even the regular petunias in the same hanging basket have new growth. I’m having to rethink my whole concept of petunias; I’ve always considered them to be annuals to dig up at the end of the season and start over. None have given me any reason before to think otherwise. Yes, this winter has been milder than usual but we’ve also had some very hard freezes—and yet they’re eager to grow. It’s almost as though the petunias knew I was about to give up on them since they were so overtaken with bugs (the Million Bells in the same pot were untouched) early on last summer… I know, I know, as my botany professor said, “Plants don’t think!”

Tropical Growth

New growth is showing up in lots of places. These new shoots on the Hawaiian Ti plant have been making slow but steady progress for awhile but it seems possible that now that the larger one has made it this far it might just speed up.

The Hawaiian Ti plant is, according to one garden book very difficult to grow and to another, very easy. So I’ll give it the prescribed light and water and as always, pray for the best.


Its large, smooth leaves beautifully reflect the morning light, even on gray days like today.

More New Growth

The baby prayer plant is growing and now has four leaves! I’d like to say that it’s the first prayer plant I’ve grown from seed but the fact is that the seed planted itself—as it was created to do and I only watered it and gave it sunlight.


The bougainvillea has adjusted so well to its indoor spot that not only is it growing lots of new leaves (to replace the ones it dropped) but it’s growing new branches too! According to the Bougainvillea Growers International, they bloom on new growth!

I’m looking forward to today’s much warmer weather but not yet another day of water outage for pipe repairs. So far the water is still on.

Cut Backs

The hard freezes the last couple of nights have taken a toll on my outdoor garden; plants that have withstood temperatures as low as the upper 20’s have frozen in this front’s icy grip of 18 degrees. So it’s time to cut away the things that can’t come back*.

How can you tell which leaves will revive as the weather warms? If it’s limp but still green there’s a strong possibility that it will spring back and grow again but limp and brown, black or gray has virtually no chance. However, if the dead parts are cut off some plants will put up new sprouts from the roots—this is where continuous watering benefits; the root ball is often protected from the cold by the soil and water keeps it from drying out i.e. freezing (freezing is essentially dehydration).

In case you’re thinking, “Oh the poor things!” realize that the sweet potato vines are usually gone with the first freeze; the various plants that froze have lived far beyond their normal range. Besides, I did take some cuttings that are still doing well. The Sweet Williams always hold up as they are biennials. Victoria Blue salvia also comes back (sometimes) for a second round but usually only after dying back but this time the leaves have bounced back. The plants that really amaze me though are the petunias! The ordinary white ones are still blooming and growing; I’ve never seen petunias survive this kind of weather! The orange Million Bells look straggly but they’re still blooming as well. Maybe I won’t give up on petunias after all (most of the ones I grew this year had some sort of plague and didn’t do well).

*Wearing garden gloves is a good idea when cutting frozen branches since they can be gooey.

New Sprouts

My husband’s herb seeds are sprouting already, beginning new life in the new year!

My newly planted indoor pots are also sprouting—this is the third one. I didn’t mark what I planted in each because I thought I would remember; I do know that the seedlings are either lettuce or parsley though.☺

Merry Christmas!

Oskar’s number one bud is in full bloom! Oskar has taken its place out of the sunlight (to preserve the blooms) as our Christmas centerpiece.

Since Christmas comes on the weekend and I only post on weekdays, I’ll wish you a Merry “Christmas Eve Eve” today. Though you may not have money for a lot of gifts or be able to be with family, Jesus’ birth is worth thoroughly celebrating and makes your life better whatever situation you’re in.

After I finished my lunch carrot the other day I spontaneously planted the top in a pot among the basil plant remains. My Brownie Scout manual had had pictures and instructions for growing greenery with kitchen scraps; why not? I had nothing to lose. Though what was originally planted is dying, new growth has already sprouted. It won’t make a new carrot but it just may make some lush green growth in these barren months—out of something ordinarily cast off. I see it as a sign of hope.

"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Then he (Jesus) rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." Luke 4:18-20 NIV

This is why he came; he came for you.

Surprise!

This is what I love about gardening, the surprise of finding new growth—especially when it’s ahead of schedule. The seed packets say that the seeds will germinate in 14-21 days! But I only planted them at the end of last week and here they are sprouting all over the place and reaching for the sun!


Oskar’s bud has been beautifully unfolding over the weekend.
Saturday—the color begins to develop and two flowers are visible.



Sunday morning—the buds break free of their enclosure and surprise, there are four flowers!



Early this morning, the flowers take their final positions and begin opening!
Will they open in time for Christmas? Lord willing, yes! And into the second day of Christmas and more. The box said that Oskar would bloom in 8-10 weeks from planting. Oskar did have a head start in that it already had a bud but from that small beginning to now has only been 3 weeks!

Life in its beginnings--and endings can happen faster than you think. Be ready. Most of the time this kind of admonition causes people to think of death and it is very important to make sure you’re following Jesus before that time comes but I also mean for it to apply to answers to prayer. Popular sentiment says, “God does things in his time, not ours…” in effect we shouldn’t truly expect God to answer our prayers anytime before, maybe 20 or 40 years from now. King David, a “man after God’s own heart”, didn’t pray that way; he prayed for God to answer him “quickly!” (Psalm 70:1; Psalm 71:12; Psalm 141:1 and more)

But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6 KJV)

If you pray casually, not expecting an answer any time soon, don’t be surprised at a delay but if you pray diligently (in agreement with Jesus’ teachings) there’s a strong possibility that God will answer you quickly (if not, keep on praying as did Jesus’ example of the widow bugging the unrighteous judge (Luke 18:1-8)! In this parable, Jesus promised quick action.