Tag Archives: gardening

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Transplants

Each of these flowers shown above I have transplanted – either from a friend’s yard, or within my own yard. Thankfully they have thrived in their new locations and even grown producing more blooms. My husband Phil, my “hole digger”, has been known to ask “didn’t we move that plant a couple years ago?” The answer is yes, because our yard is an ever changing landscape.

We have lived in our current location 21 years and the environment in our yard has changed. Where there had once been abundant sun, now we have shade. The sun hasn’t changed, it still shines and warms the earth just as God intended it to. We have planted trees in honor of each of our grandchildren and as those trees have grown, so have the shaded areas of our yard. So, if plants that love sun are growing in the shade, I must transplant them if I want them to bloom.

Transplanting can be traumatic for plants. Peonies may take a year or two to adapt to a new location before they start blooming again. I was walking around our yard with my friend Alice Marie. We were looking at plants growing in the shade. She commented “You know that saying “bloom where you are planted” doesn’t always hold true.” The light bulb in my brain went off – “You are right, Alice Marie!” I replied. I had recently moved a lily and a peony from just this area because they would NEVER have bloomed where they were planted.

That caused me to think about our lives. As we follow Jesus in our journey through life we will face dry, unproductive periods. These dry seasons of life may have multiple causes. Sometimes it is burn out, sometimes circumstances have changed, sometimes we have changed. Maybe we need to consider a change in environment.

Another friend, Joyce, has recently decided, after much prayer and seeking God’s guidance, to move to Texas. She is leaving her beloved mountains because she wants to be near her grandchildren and have a positive impact on their lives. “My granddaughters won’t even know me except for a once a year visit and Facetime calls.” Joyce told me. “I know this is such an important time in their lives and I feel the Lord wants me to be near them.” So Joyce is being transplanted. Her house has sold and she is planning to move, with her daughters blessing, to Texas. I know Joyce will eventually bloom there and be a blessing to her family.

As we age, sometimes we need to be willing to be transplanted. My parents sold their home and came to live in our home for 8 1/2 years. Then they transplanted again to a retirement community near one of my brothers. Each move had challenges and rewards and God used each move to further their growth in Him. My older brother and his wife moved to a location between two of his children in Oregon, again, to be closer to family. God has led them to serve in their new community in ways they didn’t anticipate.

In the Bible God moves people around, sometimes willingly and sometimes with resistance, yet always to further His purpose in their lives. Think of Abraham, Ruth, Jonah, and Paul, to name a few. Just as my yard is an ever changing landscape, so are our lives as we follow Jesus. We may experience great things in our lives and feel that they are moving along well, then suddenly we aren’t. It may be God preparing us for a change – a move. It is important to exercise caution, though. If we transplant just because we are facing a trial, we may miss the lesson God is teaching through that trial in our current location. Sometimes a move may not be to a new location, it may be a change in our hearts. Yet other times it may require uprooting us and placing us somewhere where we can bloom again.

In Matthew 7:15-20 Jesus is warning his followers of dangers of listening to false teaching and the resulting baroness –

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.

We need to examine the fruit in our lives. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. If this fruit is not currently evident in our lives, it may be time for a transplant. A new location may allow us to bloom and bare fruit again allowing us to fulfill God’s purposes in our lives.

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I Need Your Help – Really?

“Phil, I need your help. I want to move the gardenia bush from the pot it has been growing in. It’s root bound and needs more space.”

Phil obligingly gets a shovel and a wheelbarrow and says – “Where do you want the hole?”

“Right here.” I reply. I am standing next to an especially favorite hydrangea between a calla lily and a yellow daylily. I have positioned my self to “protect” these plants from the shovel. So I say to Phil –

“Don’t step there!”

“Dig from this side.”

“Watch out for the lily poking through.”

“Don’t pile the dirt there!!”

Phil stops digging and asks – “Do you want my help or not?”

The realization of my request for help sets in. I want Phil to dig the hole because I am not able. YET – I have made it impossible for Phil to help me with the limitations I have put on him. He has to stand somewhere, and the dirt he digs to make a hole has to go somewhere. I am not really asking Phil for “help”, I am telling him what to do.

This realization got me thinking about my cries of help to God. I may be facing a crisis and cry out to God “Help me” yet in the next breath I am telling God what to do, when to do it, and the outcome I expect.

I am giving the God of the universe, omnipotent, omniscient, creator and sustainer of all things – advice. Really?

Proverbs 3: 5-6 says –

Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.

Do not depend on my own understanding…

How often I think I know what is best… for myself, my husband, my children, my grandchildren, my friends, my acquaintances, my enemies, even random people I don’t know – “That person should just…”, my grandchild’s coach, the referees or umpires, my pastor, the worship leader?

The list could go on and on couldn’t it?

How totally presumptuous of me!! Is God thinking – “Do you really want my help or not?”

The answer is TRUST. I must trust in the Lord with all my heart. I must surrender my will to God’s will. God knows the big picture as well as each small detail of my life, i.e. the number of hairs on my head. Scripture is very clear on the fact that God has a plan for all of creation and a plan for how I, as an individual, fit into that bigger, glorious plan. He will direct my path.

To finish the above story about transplanting, I left to get water to soak the newly transplanted gardenia since Phil did not need me telling him HOW, after I told him where I wanted it planted. When I returned, Phil had placed it in the newly dug hole and the surrounding plants were just fine.

Trust.

# In My Garden with God

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Diversity of Color

These are all hydrangeas that grew in our yard this summer and into the fall. We had a very dry fall and these blooms started drying while they were still attached to the plant. Notice the color!

I have never had such a variety of color from dried blooms – and I have been drying blooms for years!

In 1986 we stayed with long time family friends – the Scattergoods – who had a lovely home on Lake Norman. Phil, myself, and our four children were guests for a night coming and going from the airport in Charlotte. I remember commenting on the lovely dried hydrangeas Mrs. Scattergood had on her table. She shared with me the following steps that I have used ever since to have beautiful dried blooms throughout the winter.

  • cut blooms in the fall after a few cool nights
  • place stems in about 2 inches of water in a vase that supports blooms
  • let the water evaporate
  • blooms will remain intact and have color depending on original color, type of hydrangea, and weather conditions during bloom season

The diversity of the color has been a special enjoyment for me this year. I have had all light caramel color blooms in the past, many blue blooms that kept their color for a month or so, but not the variety of this year. How lovely of our Creator to bless us with such diversity of color!

This situation has caused me to think of the amazing diversity we have throughout creation. The variety of plants, animals, and all living things – especially humans – points to God’s plan for uniqueness from the very start. That list from the first garden in Genesis sets the stage for the glorious array encompassing creation. This diversity is something to celebrate as we acknowledge God as creator. This variety is not chance – but God’s intention from the beginning. Think of how much difference there is in our families, our communities, and our churches.

How boring our world would be if all flowers were the same color?

How boring our world would be if all people looked and thought alike?

How blessed we are to know the Author of Creation – the Author of our salvation!

I recently listened to scholar and Bible teacher Dr. Rebecca McLaughlin in this podcast recommended by our daughter, Abigail. I have attached it so that if you are interested you can listen. I was blessed by the way Dr. McLaughlin celebrates the diversity in the Body of Christ and how we are all blessed by that diversity. God’s plan from the beginning….

#In my Garden with God