Life is full of both – beginnings and endings. We are always working with one of them, or both at the same time in various aspects of our lives. The photo above is of my raised flower garden in our front yard. I have wanted to get all the weeds out and get it ready for annuals. I was given the combo that I have placed there, by a dear friend and her great niece for Mother’s Day but had to wait until two things happened before I put it in place. First, I had to wait until it was warm enough. That has been true for a few days now, and second, I had to have time to weed out the garden, remove the tulip leftovers and then get the soil dug up and ready for planting. Both of those came together this morning, so I was able to get it done before noon.
However, this “beginning” was not as simple as I thought. In the last few years when I have planted in the bed, I noticed there were a lot of what I thought were root clusters in the soil. You know, the kind left behind from the plants that were there last summer. So I knew I would need to dig the dirt and turn it over before planting was done. Well, let me tell you I was in for a surprise. The root clusters were not leftover from the year or years before at all. Instead, they were massive roots – tree roots, that had invaded this nice tasty spot. No wonder the plants did not prosper well, even though I really fed them well.
So the work began, to begin a “beginning.” I dug, cut, pulled, fell over backward in the bed, worked some more, and shook out root cluster after root cluster which had invaded my fertile bed. Finally, that was done, now back to digging, oh, but there’s more – root clusters that are, and tree roots, and clusters. Well, just before it became too warm for me outside, I was able to get the chicken wire in place. Oh, I forgot to tell you, we have an abundance of squirrels and they are fed by a neighbor, so no way to discourage their exploration in my gardens. So I learned a few years ago to place chicken wire on top of the soil, and they will not destroy my plants. It works!
The photo is of the finished product. I will be putting more annuals in the spot this afternoon and tomorrow afternoon, but for my lunch time and resting time. It is enough.
Now for the ending. I am sad to say that only three of my iris plants bloomed at all, and we are in their final glory days. The ones that flourished are indeed glorious. Here are images of them. I love them so and miss all the other colors which have beautiful flags but no blossoms. I think they just got too much moisture with the very, very cold wet spring. So here are those endings.
If I were judging, (and of course I am not), I would say the endings are more glorious than the beginnings. Isn’t that always true? The seed or the knob or the flag, even the stalk, is not lovely at all, but then it blooms, and its ending brings glory to the entire cycle.
Lord, thank you for my flowers, and beds, and the joy of being able to dig in the dirt. Thank you for teaching me about beginnings and the endings, and may I spend my time enjoying both instead of mourning for yesterdays blooms. You are glorious, Lord Jesus, and you make our lives that way – every day – all the way through when seen through your eyes. Thank you, Lord!
Mannaword 