Spring…Finally

I saw today that some of the upper passes in Colorado had snow. I think we are finally done with winter here in the Midwest, even though it is going down in the low 50s for Easter morning.

So I am going to share some of the early color in my yard…for now. I am just getting started. I can’t help but smile when I start seeing trees bud and the early bulbs pop through to share their beauty. Even though my allergies take a hit, I love spring.

My yellow daffodil varieties are usually the first to show their pretty faces. Then the doubled white daffodils come in with the tulips. Most of my tulips have not opened yet, so I still get that smile to come.

I put in some early perennials that I hope return each year.

I have become interested in English daisies since we saw them already blooming when we went to England in February.

This next group I have heard of but never have planted them. The nemesia is a pot of mixed colors.

These last two are from my church. When we did some major cleaning of overgrown shrubs around the courtyard, we found a small azalea trying its best to survive. And now it looks great. Then last summer, a storm took down one of our large oak trees, so we made a planter out of it.

We planted some perennials in the rotting trunk, hoping they will grow and cascade over the sides.

I hope you are enjoying your spring. Let the smiling faces of the flowers help you smile, and as always, remember to be kind. Kindness creates smiles inside as well as outside.

Yard Color

I have not posted very many of my flowers this summer and summer is almost gone. We have had lots of rain this year which helps in some areas and hinders in others. But nature is still my favorite way to relax.

A favorite hardy flower is Portulaca, most commonly know as Moss Roses, as they do look like a small rose. While the blooms are small, their colors are amazing – multiple colors from the same plant.

A new plant for me this year is an Ice Plant. Quite interesting as it totally closes up at night and reopens the next morning. I guess he understands the power of a good night’s sleep.

This last flower for today I don’t know the name of but it is an interesting tiny flower on a mound of greenery. It has three larger petals and two smaller ones giving it a unique shape. The only purple left in my yard.

As summer begins to wind down, let us not forget the beauty we enjoyed and welcome in the fall colors of yellow and orange. Have a great week and always remember the simple beauty of kindness.

Be Resilient Like Nature

Life can be hard on a good day, but it is those trying days that give us strength. Sometimes God shows us proof of His loving resilience for us through nature. Those who read my blog, know that I have a thing for sunflowers. This was my sunflower from last year.

At one point it had over 50 blooms. But this year I have not been as lucky as we have had some crazy wind storms. My one tall sunflower was growing at about five feet tall when wind broke in half. But ‘Patience’, my one resilient sunflower now has 3 buds. I named it Patience because it is proof of the resilience of nature as it lifts its face to the heavens for the sun and like all flowers do, to show off their beauty to God. Here you can see how the storm knocked Patience to the ground but she refused to stay down.

Her stem is bent and shows scar tissue but still she grows

In 2 Corinthians 12:9-11, Paul reminds us that in our weakness we can be strong as long as we lean on Christ,

⁹But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Another example of weakness takes on a little different turn. One of the storms this week took down a huge oak tree by our church. While studying the trunk as they finished cutting it down, I saw that the tree was weak on the inside with disease and carpenter ants.

Look how the tree tried to curl it’s trunk around its disease and continue to grow. The trunk’s hole, if you look at it just right, looks like a heart.

I plant to fill that hole with dirt and plant some thrift in it to cascade over the edge of the trunk still showing the beauty of the tree.

While our lives may be hard, somewhere in all that trial, God still sees beauty, even if we don’t. So, don’t give up when it gets hard, but reach for God’s hand and let him show you your beauty in weakness.

And as always, remember to be kind, it shows your inner beauty.

The Storms of Summer

I think everywhere in the world understand the storms of summer can be rough but here in the US summer storms bring severe thunderstorms, derecho winds, tornadoes and of course downpours.

While the rain is being enjoyed by our community garden, the wind has not been our friend. Early morning storms today played havoc for a decades old oak tree by our church.

You can see the top portion of this beautiful tree was broken off like a match stick.

The clouds, since daybreak, have been ominous as they pounded us with water.

But the flowers still prove that they can survive, maybe even thrive as long as the winds stay clear of their tender stems.

And as the clouds begin to dissipate, George, the neighborhood Red Tail Hawk, calls out to remind us that all is well and to always trust in the creator of all things to create beauty after a storm, regardless of where the storm that may be happening.

I close with a reminder to be kind especially in the midst of a storm. It will make the storm more bearable.

Playing in the Dirt

Now that I am of a ‘certain age’ the idea of a large yard is highly overrated. Who wants to cut all that grass. While I am not fond of the noisy teenagers in close proximity, I do enjoy being to pant lots of flowers in all of my yard. Last year I planted some perennials along my fence which makes less work along the fence line.

I am especially fond of the golden yarrow. I know that it can take over, but right now, I see no issue with that. Less work for beautiful flowers.

I thought I would send out to other flower enthusiast, the colors in my yard.

Petunia are always fun with so many different color options plus they can handle warmer weather. Perineal flowers are always a fun option to see if they can survive the interesting winters here in Iowa. I got a new one this year, an Ice Plant. We will see it I can keep it alive.

Other long standing perennials that are still surviving are Coreopsis, Balloon Flower and Bee Balm.

A little later in the summer, I will start putting out the mums. I love the colors of mums in the fall. That is pretty much the gist of my small yard, hope you enjoyed. Have a great summer and always remember to be kind.

It’s Lily Time

While my daylilies have not opened yet, my other lilies have and I thought I would send those out into the blog world. Maybe Cee will see them from Rehab and they will help her smile.

We have to start with the classic white Easter lily. It remained beautiful through most of May but has now been planted to hopefully come back next year.

My favorite lily was planted two years ago by accident. I had the flower pot in the yard to plant, promptly forgot about it, but the dog turned it over for me and it grew. I covered it good last year and was rewarded this year with three stalks about 3 feet tall and multiple blooms on each stalk.

This rich maroon red lily was planted three years ago and this year had three separate stalks as well. This is a much shorter plant but still as beautiful.

This next lily warms my heart, not because of the lily but because of what it means. If you have read any of my stories or books, then you know how important my dogs are to me. This lily was placed where I put the ashes for Mimi, when I lost her four years ago. So I call this flower Mimi’s Lily. Its petals are ruffled and tinged with red.

Now that the community garden is growing well, I will start sharing the many flowers I have in my yard. For such a small yard, it is quite colorful. And as always, I remind you of the power and beauty of kindness. It is such a powerful tool, that even animals understand its purpose.

Always Be Kind!!

FOTD, Purple

We had a decent day today and when I got home from work I was able to spend some time in my swing. As I surveyed my spring flowers, I noticed I sure do have lots of purple. No that that is a bad thing, it just shows I like purple. So I thought I would share some of my pictures with you. Its getting that time of year where my phone is more of a camera than a phone. 😊

I did not realize that all the tulips were purple. I could have sworn they were a mixed bag of bulbs, guess the purple won out. But they are varieties of flowers – some are single with green stripes and some are doubled that look more like a rose than a tulip.

One section near the house is now filled in with periwinkle that dropped from a potted plant over 5 years ago.

A new plant for me this year is Nemesia, they come in pink, white, and purple. Of course, I bought all three.

The Wind Flowers has always been a favorite but I had not see this color before.

Well, I guess that is all the Flowers of the Day for today. Cee, I hope the pollen lets up soon for you. It would be a shame to miss Spring’s beauty. I found that the face mask helps with the pollen as well.

Enjoy the colors of spring or fall wherever you may be and try to always be kind.

FOTD, April 8, Emergence

While I loved the bright orange azaleas in Cee’s pictures, I have to be realistic…we got two inches of snow last week…after Easter. So I give you the emergence of the bulbs in my yard because, NOW…spring is finally here.

In the front yard, we have a daffodil trio of the large trumpet daffodils and then the double daffodils in yellow and white.

The first two shots are flowers the birds planted, a pink and a purple hydrangea, and a red tulip. The last one is the reemergence of a Dianthus. I planted four last year and this is the only one that seemed to have survived our sub-zero winter this year.

And to show you I wasn’t kidding about the snow last week. Snow in April… ridiculous.

The daffodils in the back yard are smaller blooms with bright orange centers.

I love the happiness of a daffodil, plus they are supposed to help deter moles…they are not doing that but they are still pretty.

As spring brings smiles to a lot of us, share those smiles with others and echo those smiles with kindness.

FOTD, 3/12 Spring Rebirth

Cee’s Flower of the Day is always a wonderful reminder of the beauty of this earth. Spring is a time of rebirth of many bulbs, trees, and sometimes even us humans. Last fall I moved stuff around in yard and covered up one of my daffodil bulbs without realizing it. This morning as I was moving things again, I moved that block and was sad that I had coved a bulb and shocked at its determination to survive.

Without the sun, no chlorophyl was made but still the plant pushed through. By this afternoon, it was beginning to stand tall reaching for the sun, broken but alive. Other bulbs coming up in my tard are the crocus as well as other daffodils.

And my lilac bushes are budding. Can’t wait for their fragrance to fill the air with their beautiful and delicate blooms.

Other Daffodils and crocus flowers…

While pollen and I are not friends…I still love the beauty of spring. May you all have a wonderful and colorful spring. And remember the beauty of kindness and may you share it often.

FOTD, Feb 10, & Poetry

What a great way to double dip – submitting to Cee’s FOTD and giving you another taste of my next book.

Last fall when I learned of my brother’s failing health, I went to Atlanta to visit him. While there, I took some pictures of his beautiful backyard. And yes, there were several lovely rose bushes.

We had had a small shower in the morning and the water droplets were still on the flowers. Since I won’t have photographs in my new book, Smiles from Heaven, you will get the pleasure here of a pretty picture and my attempt at poetry. I do better with stories.

Reflection

The beauty of a rose concealed within

A reflection of what has always been

It is not hopeful of what could be

But a timeless picture of what we see

A beautiful rose now concealed in joy

Is a timeless flower for us to enjoy

Below are some other pictures from my archives of roses. The dark pink with the white center one was named “Happy Star” and I thought that was appropriate.

Remember the smiles that flowers bring us and try to share a smile. Smiles are the easiest way to brighten someone’s day and a genuine way to be kind.