Friday, May 9, 2014

Life Lessons I Learned In the Garden


Lesson # 6 - Blessings Multiply


Many years ago, when I dreamed about gardening but didn't have a clue how to begin, my friend's  mom, Libby, shared some plants with me.  At first, she just gave me a few plants in a pot, but she invited me to come back over once I had some beds prepared.  The next time I visited, Libby walked around her beautiful flower gardens and introduced me to her many plants. As, we strolled through the yard, she named each one, as if they were old friends.  Every once in a while, Libby would mark a plant with a piece of ribbon or a slip of paper.  "You can take a piece of that," she would say, or " take a couple of those."

After our walk, Libby left me to my task of digging.  "Just don't leave any holes," was her only request. I spent the rest of the afternoon, enjoying the beauty that she and God had created in her gardens, and gathering a little piece of it to create my own.  I went home with a van full of plants that would become to me, as they were to Libby, my old friends.

I have moved several times since my last visit to Libby's garden.  My friends, those treasured plants, have traveled with me, spending years at a time in pots.  I was delighted, once we came to Cornercopia, to let my plants spread their roots at last.  Over the last seven years, I have cultivated and divided my perennials, many of them those same old friends.  It gives me great joy to do for others what Libby did for me more than a decade ago - bless them with a gift from my garden.

I have shared many of my plants through the years.  As they grow and spread, it keeps the plants healthy to thin them out or separate pieces.  A couple of years ago, I shared a piece of a favorite plant, a Bachelor Button called "Centaura Montana", with my mom.  Curiously, after sharing with her, all of my plants died off.  Last year, she was able to divide hers and now I have one of my beloved plants back again.

Blessing others usually has a way if working out like that.  Whenever we share with others, we will often be blessed in return.  Libby blessed me by sharing her love for gardening and the knowledge she gained through her experience.  Though I have not had the opportunity to give back to her directly, I hope that she has been blessed many times over.  In the meantime, stop by for a visit, I would love to walk around with you and introduce you to some of my old friends.  Who knows, maybe you will even leave with a few of your own!

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