In The Garden ... God's Misplaced Flowers

"In the garden, God's misplaced flowers are a thing of beauty, too!" -- Holy Crumpet

There were several titles I could have used for today's writing, however, I decided to choose this one as my first post. Why? I'm not really sure but, perhaps, we'll have come to a conclusion towards the end. Please bear with me ... I promise not to take up too much of your time.

Why is it that when you plant a particular type of individual flower or an attractive flowering bush and nurture and give it plenty of TLC, it does one of two things. First, if it's a good, healthy plant, it will do quite nicely in the special spot that you have chosen for it where it is bound to flourish. On the other hand, perhaps it may not be as healthy as you thought and, therefore, its leaves turn pale or brown, and fall to the ground, and the trunk withers and dries, and the plant dies.

Now, if we had a third side to the coin, it would be called: "The birds of the air..."! These graceful, songful critters have that magical side to them, where they eat the berries or seeds of a plant and then go on their way and, in time, 'nature calls' and they leave the remnants of their snacks ... wherever! [Remember Jack and the Beanstalk?] Unfortunately, the ones that land on my car, do not usually sprout! However, and eventually, the ones that land in my garden do sprout. I could really grumble and complain about it and go ripping these weeds [God's misplaced flowers] out of the ground only to throw them into the rubbish heap but, instead, we allow them to grow. Due to a natural curiousity factor, we like to see what may come of these little weeds. Usually and, in the end, we are a bit surprised to see what has enveloped from some of these seedlings.

Some of the lovely flowers and bushes that have emerged from these seedlings, in my garden, are:

1. Honeysuckle -- Those fragrant orangy-yellowish blossoms that brighten any part of a garden. [Unfortunately, these little beauties grow with rampant vengeance and they are difficult to ... ahem ... thin out!]


2. Queen Anne's Lace [or with the likeness of] -- Those gorgeous, large round, lacy-looking, white flowers that can be found by the side of the road or in certain areas of the garden [again, wherever]. They look pretty in bouquets or just by themselves in a tall vase with some greenery.


3. Sweet William -- Tiny, velvet-like petals, that are bright and happy on their pretty green foliage. These little flowers happen to be the color of claret wine and make a perky addition to a smallish rock garden.


4. Bittersweet -- In the Spring, the bright, shiny, green leaves grow abundantly on their woody stems and, after a wait, the Summer brings forth green berries. Going into Autumn, the berries begin to turn to a yellowish-orange color and the leaves begin to fall. Towards the end of Autumn, the berries begin to live by themselves on their woody stems, while their orangy color grows more and more intense. As Winter approaches, the berries are a bright and beautiful orangy-red, hence, the name Bittersweet. In New England, these gorgeous berries show their true beauty when they are against a backdrop of snow!


5. Elderberry Bush -- One could get a great crop of berries for jam or wine, that is, if one can get to them before the birds!


6. Thistle -- "The Campbells are coming, ho-ho, ho-ho! ..." I love Thistle, even though it's a prickly lad or lassie but, gorgeous, nontheless. It boasts pretty pinky-purplish flowers and grayish-green foliage ... and, let's not forget those thistles ... "Ouch!"


7. Heather [or a similar garden variety of the plant] -- "I'll take the high road and you'll take the lo' road, and I'll be in Scotland 'afore ye ..." You know the one I mean ... again, it's that similar pinky-purplish color like it's cousin, Thistle, except the flower is a bunch of tiny flowers grown on a stalk. In my experience, this "Heather" tends to grow in wetlands near brooks or marshy areas and the flower grows with other tall grasses. I think the "real" Heather is also grown on tall stalks, except the tiny flowers are much firmer and sort of roundish, compared to the former description above.


8. Wild Flowers -- We have a wild Rose bush, which grows among two small Elm trees. Its flowers are a creamy white but, like the thistle, watch out for those thorns ... too many ouches! Other wild varieties emerge from the banking and I do not know what they are called! Viny clusters that cling and wind themselves around anything in their way. Some have tiny bluish-purple flowers, some have white, some are bell-shaped, while some are stalky and others are short. We leave them, though, for they are a sanctuary for God's other creative critters, like butterflies, dragonflies, and bees.


9. The Mystery Tree -- No ... that's not it's "real" name! Actually, I don't know what it's called. However, I can tell you that it has bright and shiny green leaves on top and the underside of the leaves are silvery. During the Spring and into Summer, the leaves flourish and grow faster than we can trim them! Now, towards the Autumn, little green berries begin to emerge and by Winter, these berries will be colored a pretty, deep, rich red. Again, no matter what time of the year, in its growing season, its branches offer a dense filler for flower arrangements, whether set in oasis or in a vase.

I think this covers my first post. I don't think I left out any of God's misplaced flowers. I think I got them all -- at least in my garden! What's in your garden?