I was touched by a recent post at Gardening Gone Wild about cultivating patience in the garden. But coming back from almost a month away, I found my garden had other lessons to teach.
The back garden looked messy. And after seeing so much green for so long, I found the brown leaves of the hummingbird sage a little jarring. But when I watched the finches on the lavender, I was happy again. The garden was teaching me to accept things as they are.
The front garden was a different story. With so little rain this spring, my unwatered side strip had sort of looked OK when I left. But when I returned, the hummingbird sage in that part of the garden was mostly dead.
To make things worse, I had probably waited too long to pull the overly rambunctiuous Phacelia. As a result, some of the plants had not survived. They didn't look good before I left, but were now well and truly dead. The garden is teaching me to take responsibility - and, I hope, to learn from my mistakes.
And after I'd been home for maybe a week, it all seemed magical again somehow. The monkeyflowers in the morning light. The Towhees jumping to get at some more grass seeds. The tangle of succulents, sage, and yarrow that seems to be flourishing.
The garden teaches me that things change all the time. What's happening in my life is changing - and how I perceive it is changing as well.
Thank you garden!
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