First, I want to thank everyone for the lovely comments when I posted two weeks ago and offered to give away a copy of my current LIS release Tracker. I appreciate all of you. My winner is Suzanne Sellner. Suzanne, if you will please contact me through my website at www.lenoraworth.com, I will arrange how to get your book to you!
This has been another tragic week. When I woke to the news alert on my phone Monday morning and read the report about the shooting in Las Vegas, I wanted to go back to bed and cover my head and cry my heart out. There are no words, no explanations, no reasons that can explain this away. So we pray and do what we can to help those in need.
This has been a tough year over all. Fires in the West, hurricanes all along the Gulf coast, and so many beautiful tropical islands, including our own Puerto Rico, destroyed. Attacks and killings all over the world. We need pray and we need love and peace.
But we know there is still beauty in the world. I had already planned to show all of you some of the more exotic plants that have bloomed in my yard this year, so I will do that and hope these spots of beauty will help you feel better.
First, my Bird-of-Paradise plant has bloomed twice and both times close to hurricanes! I planted it as the focal point in a dish garden four years ago, never dreaming it would bloom! It’s official name is Strelitzia and it was amazing to watch the “bird” burst open day by day. Birds actually pollinate these plants and that means they will bloom larger and larger. We’re gonna need a bigger pot:
Next, to our surprise, the banana tree that started out as a clipping from a former neighbor on the bay, shot up to over six feet and it is now producing bananas. Real bananas. This takes about nine months and the mother plant has to die but the little baby plants take over and the flowers that bloom a deep purple actually produce the tiny bananas that take their dear sweet time maturing. Banana pudding, anyone??
My next plant is beautiful but honestly, I can’t remember which kind of lily this is. I named this one Josephine after the deceased mother of a good friend of mine. He gave me a cutting and I planted it at our bay condo. It bloomed beautifully there but when we moved, we thought we’d left it. But it hitched a ride on my jasmine bush and grew next to it by the pergola. My husband transplanted it elsewhere, or so we thought. But Josephine had other plans and just grew right back. The transplanted one is not as happy as our Josephine:
So there you have it. My kind of exotic garden tour. We don’t get a lot of fall leaves in Florida, so these interesting plants have made up for that in color and in taking the slow route to fully bloom. So worth the wait, however.
I think that’s how the Lord waits on us. He nurtures us, watches over us and marvels when we grow and mature into the humans he longs for us to become. When we blossom in God’s love, we know we can get through the bad times in life. Sometimes, we do have to attach ourselves to something that has strong roots, which is what faith is all about.
We are about to enter into a holy season and I’m hoping we can bloom where we are planted, deep in the essence of God’s unconditional love.
Do you have plants that show you the strength of your faith?
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Aren’t the banana trees interesting? We have several that we put out every year. They started from a cutting from my father-in-law who has been with the Lord for 13 years. It’s kind of a piece of him we keep near. We live in Alabama so we’ve only had bananas twice and they never get very big – not hot enough long enough. I never thought about plants as a reflection of our faith, but just as these plants have been dug up and cut back and replanted, sometimes life does that to us but with nourishment (Bible study and prayer) we can flourish and produce fruit.
Thank you, Melissa. It is sure interesting watching how plants struggle to mature. And it teaches us to be patient and wait!
Thank you for the pictures of your beautiful plants. I love the Bird of Paridise. The banana tree is indeed fascinating.about a year and a half ago we sold our house and moved to a senior citizens community. I’m fortunate to have a lawn both in front and behind our apartment. I enjoy putting out potted plants front and back and I love to sit outside with a cup of coffee and enjoy all of them.
Shirley, that old saying is so true. We are closer to God in a garden!
Wonderful, thoughtful post, Lenora. It’s so interesting to see the bird of paradise and banana plant.
I have begonias that come back each year, and they are annuals. I also have a small stone with the scripture you mentioned, “Bloom where you are planted,” and I placed it in a small front garden by my portch steps because my impatiens (another annual) returned there. We don’t have long, cold winters, but we do get snow, so the return of these plants is always a joy to me.
Betty, I love begonias, too. A Texas friend gave me a cutting of an angel wing begonia and it has thrived for probably ten years. We kept rooting plants for friends and neighbors. I love pass along plants!
Such a beautiful post, Lenora, and I love the exotic and unique plants you have growing! I just love that God created things for the sheer beauty of them, and that we might enjoy them and reflect on the Creator of them.
Thank you, Deb!!
Thank you for the tour of some of your garden plants. I loved the photos and the explanation of the bloom process. Since I live in Colorado and do not experience this kind of bloom you have enriched my morning. My gardens here teach me a little of the same patience as I wait for flowers and vegetables to mature. We are so blessed to have such a patient God as we become what He means for us to be.
Thanks, Jen! God Is the great creator. Nature is one of our treasures.