Mon Jardin

Wish this was my "jardin!"

“Jardin” is garden in French. Life is a lot like a garden. You try planting different things to see what you like, what is too hard to maintain, and what blossoms and grows from year to year. You also have to take the time to weed out what you don’t want.

I spent all morning in my “jardin” today planting plants that I culled from my sister’s enormous and beautiful garden. My sister is always generous with her plants which I love because it’s like Christmas early! Today I cleaned up a lot from the winter, fertilized my roses, gardenias, and shrubs, weeded and planted. The breeze kept me cool, the sun kept me warm, the bugs weren’t too bad and all the plants are in the ground. My step-dad gave me some rosemary too, but he said to let that wait a bit before I plant it so it’s on my porch out of the sun, moist and happy.

After my rant about my daughter the other day, I thought of her this morning while I was planting. I looked at a particular plant that I put in the ground last year. I thought I’d lost to a hard frost, but no, low and behold there were six or seven new leaves at the base. So I trimmed back the old growth and gave light to the new. Just like I must do with my daughter. Her new leaves are sprouting and I, the “old” growth, must be cut away for hers to thrive. I must trust her to make good choices for herself even when I’m in doubt. That is the way of life, isn’t it? Cutting back old growth so the new can reach for the warm and life giving sun? Yes, life is a lot like a “jardin” and we can learn more than we think sometimes from watching both grow. I smile, now thinking of the time I have in both life and my “jardin”, weeding, trimming, nurturing and marveling in how beautiful and thorny both can be.

Photo:

soloplanos.com