The "new" crocosmia garden

In its previous incarnation as a shade garden, the only plants that seemed to thrive among the matted root system of the silver maple tree were the crocosmias.  They balanced their bulbs on the roots and managed to send tendrils through the mats but their bloom stalks tended to fall over when they were fully blooming.  I left them in place after the tree was cut down last summer but wondered how they would do in the new full-sun garden.

The wondering is over.  I am proud to report that the crocosmias love their new sun garden!  They are already thicker, are standing completely upright, and are covered in orange-red blooms that remind me of fireworks.

It's a jungle out there

For the past several years, whenever I acquired a new plant for which I didn't have a planned location, I would plant it along the back fence line.  The fence line is my most recent cultivation so it always seems like the right place for any plant.

With the loss of the silver maple tree, the sun hours for the fence line garden have increased significantly, changing the growing dynamics proportionately.  Add to that, the near tropical nature of this summer's weather patterns and suddenly it feels like a jungle out there.

While very little is blooming at the moment, the plants are bursting with energy and the cream peas I planted in the "empty" spaces are over running their trellis poles and crawling onto the shrubs and taller perennials.  It will soon be a challenge to navigate the pathway.  Who knew I would have jungle in July?

When God has other plans

After several years without experiencing any significant severe weather, my backyard was slammed with two major wind events on two consecutive days.  The weather station at the airport registered 35 mph gusts but in our neighborhood the winds were much, much stronger. 

The wind filled our backyard with debris, pruned a multitude of branches from a dead tree on our neighbor's property, and a huge branch high in the canopy of our sweet gum tree crashed through the canopy of the nearby southern long leaf pine, creating a major disaster in the middle of our yard.  Unlike some of our neighbors, we were fortunate that none of the branches fell on our home.

Saturday was clean up day in our backyard.  My sweet husband purchased a small chain saw and we spent the bulk of a hot, summer day, sawing up branches and dragging them to the curb.

The garden that was buried under the debris looks very sad today, but nothing was completely destroyed.  Amazingly, not a single branch landed on our garden bench, and not a single container was damaged.  We will just have a little more sunshine in the shade garden.

As we worked on our backyard yesterday, I was reminded that we often have expectations for our gardens that change in moment because of unforeseen changes in the weather, events that we can't anticipate or change.  Life is often the same way.  We plan and have expectations that change in a moment because of events that we cannot control.  We have to depend on our heavenly Father who knows what is coming, and who will make the journey with us.

One of the truths from the Bible that I keep in mind is written in Proverbs:  Trust in the LORD with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. (3:5-6)