Bloom Where You’re Planted

I just can’t help it, I love flowers.  Last year Russ requested that we take a break from yard work so we did not plant one thing…not a petunia or a snapdragon or an impatiens.  Although our lawn guy put in a couple of tomatoes for me, I planted NOTHING! 

So now we are home and will probably be here for most of the spring and summer.  Therapy is tucked away in her little cabin and we have been working on getting her spic and span for our next trip, whenever that may be.



I just can’t go without flowers two years in a row! So for the last two days we have begun to work on the flower beds.  We almost missed the peony blooms while we were gone but there are still a few that aren’t totally spent.
I love these bold and showy blossoms but they sure don’t last long.  


We planted 51 flower starts today…and that did not even finish one bed!  Yeah, we got a ways to go yet.  But we’re getting there.

Thankfully I had some volunteers from two years ago.  These snapdragons are supposed to be annuals but they just keep coming back, for about three years now.



See all the dead leaves and crud around the plant?  That is what it looked like all around the sweet gum tree. 



This is what it looked like today after we finished planting.



In a few weeks, hopefully, we will have a nice bed of pink impatiens…with a few snapdragons thrown in just because I like them.

It’s probably been more than 25 years ago now that we were visiting Russ’s parents in Mill City, OR.  They lived in a mobile home park and Russ’s Dad was always busy mowing all the neighbors lawns and the common areas.  They always had a big garden and his mom managed to always have some colorful flowers as well.  As we were leaving their house after our visit, I admired some little plants that were fighting their way up through the gravel of the parking area.  I didn’t know what they were but Russ’s mom went and got a baggie and dug up one of those little plants and I carried it home in that baggie.  From that tiny little start, this large shamrock plant has grown.  It’s an old fashioned plant and some may not think it is worth much.  But it means the world to me because of the kindness of Russ’s mother on that day.  Each year it grows bigger and as the weather warms it becomes covered with tiny pink blossoms that open up each afternoon.  The bees love it and I like to think it provides delicious nectar for their honey making enterprise.  Russ’s mom has been gone for many years now but this plant lives on as a constant reminder of how a little kindness can go a long way – and can even outlast your lifetime.



By the way, I have always called it a shamrock plant but I’m really not sure.  It doesn’t look exactly like any I have seen pictures of so if I am mistaken, please let me know. 


So for a while we will not be using the picnic table for al fresco dining!  Russ looks a little worse for wear, doesn’t he?  Poor hard working fella!!



I think we might have a small problem here.  There is something not right about this photo of the patio cover (yea, I know, it’s filthy.  Pressure washer will be working overtime soon!)



But still, there are some parts that are looking pretty good!



Wherever you go in this journey called life, always remember to bloom where you are planted!