March 2007

”Dreams are renewable. No matter what our age or condition, there are still untapped possibilities within us and new beauty waiting to be born.”
Dale Turner--Cleric

February has always been a hard month for me. I’m ready for spring. Especially when the sun is shining and the sky is blue. I just want so badly to get out and run my fingers through the soil in preparation for planting. It doesn’t help when the seed companies start sending out their catalogs filled with new and interesting plants.
“Aha!” I thought, I foiled them by moving. They won’t have my address!” And living in an apartment has its limits”
So-- for Valentine’s Day, instead of a nice box of chocolate, I got a book about creating small gardens in containers. And—it snowed!
I was frustrated once again.
"Evaluation of the past is the first step toward vision for the future."- Chris Widener

Now it’s March and I can go out to my terrace and evaluate last year’s garden. What grew well in Northern Virginia’s climate? What gives the most “Bang for a buck?” Is anything that I planted going to come back? What do I really want to see growing?
And I remembered the front garden I spent the last twenty some years with.

When I bought the house it was floating on a sea of juniper.
We pulled them all out and planted a variety of cute little plants, miniature and tea roses and one Day Lily. Over the years that one little day lily took over the whole garden. Day lilies are so named because the flower lasts for one day. It doesn’t matter if you leave it on the plant, pick a stock and put it in water, or pick a blossom and stick it in your hair. Each individual blossom will last for one day. But each stock can be showy and makes a statement as it stands out in the crowd of long green leaves.

One day, while pulling out the dead plant material at the base I found several surprises; little tiny white flowers hiding in the shadow; cute little pink blossoms trying to get some sunshine; a red and white striped miniature rose that got lost and almost gave up until I came and rescued it. Also I found a miniature red rose that decided to go against the odds and reach for the sky. That little rose bush with flowers the size of a nickel was three feet high and four feet wide. I thought about the women I was working with. Some were proud and wanted to be noticed. Some were shy and hid in the shadows. Some would give up unless they were helped along by friends, and others didn’t care what the world said, they were going to do their thing despite the odds! One additional surprise was a literal snake in the grass which ended my gardening enthusiasm for the day! How many of those do we know!
And finally-- "At the end of each day, you should play back the tapes of your performance. The results should either applaud you or prod you." Jim Rohn

Have a great month,
Wendy