In an effort to celebrate the completion of the weeding portion of my project, I went to the greenhouse just down the street and bought some perennials to put along my front sidewalk.
I was thinking I'd get some bushes for the terraces, but I got there and got overwhelmed with the vast amounts of choices and my minute amount of knowledge! I think I need a consultant!
But some things are a little easier. I chose these 3 plants to put along my front walk because they're pretty. :)
Bell flower
Fall mums
Black-eyed Susans- a name that totally confused my little girl... with good reason, I guess. Why would anyone want to give Susan a black eye?I figure it's a start, anyway. There's a lot of ground to cover, but these will be much fuller when they come up next year. And I imagine I'll come up with more to put in.
When I was at the garden store, I had to invest in a new pair of gloves. I wore the fingertips out of my old ones!
Tuff Chix gloves are great, and I'm surprised they didn't last longer. But I DID pick out a lot of weeds in the last 2 weeks. Here's the fingertips:
OK, I only wore through 3 out of the 10 tips, but my nails did not appreciate it, so I got new gloves. I hope these are as tough as they are pretty... :)
As I planted today, I was trying to figure out how these flowers applied to my giant metaphor of soul-nurturing I've been using. I came to the conclusion (and this is by no means original or profound) that these flowers are relationships.
Gag!
OK, so I'm not the first to come to this conclusion, but the point is, I LOVE relationships. I love meeting new people, I love hanging out with current friends, and I love renewing old acquaintances.
As I put these flowers in, I had to do several distinct steps. I had to
I can't wait to see how these friendships grow and develop. I love that they'll come back year after year, and only get bigger and stronger over time. And I can't wait to plant more!
Oh... here's the pictures- before (but imagine lots more weeds than this- especially a lot of crab grass along the right hand side)
during (with the plants in the pots above ground):
And after.
When I was at the garden store, I had to invest in a new pair of gloves. I wore the fingertips out of my old ones!
Tuff Chix gloves are great, and I'm surprised they didn't last longer. But I DID pick out a lot of weeds in the last 2 weeks. Here's the fingertips:
OK, I only wore through 3 out of the 10 tips, but my nails did not appreciate it, so I got new gloves. I hope these are as tough as they are pretty... :)
As I planted today, I was trying to figure out how these flowers applied to my giant metaphor of soul-nurturing I've been using. I came to the conclusion (and this is by no means original or profound) that these flowers are relationships.
Gag!OK, so I'm not the first to come to this conclusion, but the point is, I LOVE relationships. I love meeting new people, I love hanging out with current friends, and I love renewing old acquaintances.
As I put these flowers in, I had to do several distinct steps. I had to
- Clear away the rocks- when I make a new friend, sometimes it feels like I have to let down my guard to make space for that person in my life. Sometimes that's easy, and other times it takes a conscious effort.
- Cut a hole in the landscape fabric- when I do this, it makes for the possibility that more weeds will find a place to put down deep roots. I'm trusting that this flower will fill this hole in with beauty. I will have to be diligent to make sure that weeds don't take root near it.
- Loosen the dirt under it & dig out the hole- I don't know how to put an application to this- I use the Garden Claw to loosen the dirt, which is an amazing invention, but as I looked down at it from the top, all I saw was a Swastika ripping up the soil! Don't really want to go deeper into THAT thought! :D
- Remove the flower from its pot & loosen up its roots- it takes time to get to know people, you have to spend time with them, and they're not going to let you into their hearts immediately. But if you want a friendship to flourish (ha!), you take time to gently move past the surface with people and go deeper.
- Stick it in the hole- again, letting a person into your life.
- Nurture it with a little root stimulator- you have to spend time with people to be in relationship with them. That's why we have so many friends at work, or at church or wherever we spend the most time.
- Repack it with nice, nutrient-rich soil, and close the rocks back in around it. I think of this as welcoming people into the community that I'm a part of. We take care of each other.
- Water generously- all along, rain and water have been symbols for me of the Living Water of the Lord. The best friends I have ever had are my brothers and sisters in Christ-but I did throw some nice juicy worms in with some of them!
I can't wait to see how these friendships grow and develop. I love that they'll come back year after year, and only get bigger and stronger over time. And I can't wait to plant more!
Oh... here's the pictures- before (but imagine lots more weeds than this- especially a lot of crab grass along the right hand side)
during (with the plants in the pots above ground):
And after.
No comments:
Post a Comment