We Can't Always Look Our Best

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think of these things. -- Philippians 4:8

I cherish these words of Saint Paul. For me, they are words to live by. But somehow, I never expected to apply them to my garden.  

Frankly, I have rarely seen our garden look worse! A few nights ago, we had a light freeze that did more damage than we would have ever imagined. The tips of almost everything are burned. We’ve decided to leave them for now, painful as it is, to protect the healthy growth beneath. So there’s that…
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Aside from the freeze, the vegetable garden is a mixed bag this year. Some seeds sprouted right away. Some are slowly getting there. Some never sprouted at all. Where are my carrots? Leeks? Parsley and cilantro? I sowed arugula seeds in raised beds several times to no avail. I decided to sow again in two pots, side by side. Only one pot has seedlings, but I’ll take it! Hopefully, the arugula, eruca sativa, will behave more like its usual self and proliferate. It’s my daughter-in-heart’s favorite.

A lot of plants, lulled by moderate weather, were blooming away until the little freeze. Our weather has been crazy, the temps dropping or rising 40 degrees in a day. Also, this gardener left town, then returned to a holiday rush. I’m ashamed to admit that due to a bit of neglect, our camellias and azaleas look somewhat anemic. They’re trying to bloom, anyway. It's not even time for the azaleas! I finally got around to feeding all of them yesterday. Even if I’ve compromised the blooms this year, at least they should start looking happier, poor things.

We have beds to build/replace. I have a short list of fruit trees to plant. One of my resolutions is to spend at least five minutes a day gardening. I’m grinning as I write this. That is certainly nowhere near enough for any gardener, arguably least of all me! I’m not saying I won’t have days or half days out there every week. But there have been plenty of days that I did not spend a moment in our garden, more's the pity. Every little bit helps both garden and gardener.

We have lettuces, though, and most of our greens survived the freeze. The holly is beautiful, as is the juniper.

I am thankful for what we have and for the hope of tomorrow, garden and otherwise.

...whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious...if there is anything worthy of praise, think of these things.
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Wishing you fun, lovely gardens in 2022!