Flowers, Seeds and Growing Things!

I love flowers and growing things.  Over the years I have had some beautiful gardens and some not so beautiful gardens.  I have had house plants that thrived and I have had house plants that died.  I have spent hours in greenhouses and lawn and garden centers oohing, aaahing, envisioning and dreaming.  One of my favorite books when I was a young girl was The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett-it represented for me the mystery of the garden…something always new to be enjoyed and cherished.

The magic of the garden….little bits of green that start popping out of the ground at the slightest provocation and hope of warmth, sunshine, and spring-a wonderful reminder of life…seasons of change, times of struggle but the importance of hope and believing in new beginnings.

I started some herbs from seeds this year, cilantro and basil…the poor little sprouts were left on their own while I was in Chicago and much to my surprise and happiness they survived without me.

I have hopes of growing a few more plants from seeds this year after rototilling an old and forgotten flower bed and giving it some new life.

Many years ago when my oldest {who is now 19} was just a baby I bought some morning glory seeds and planted them-year after year they come back in pots and in the ground traveling from here to there in my yard, never ceasing to amaze me with their simple beauty.

Last year I took some pictures of my flowers before the end of the growing season just to remind me of how much joy they give me.

I have always loved fountains and this one sits right outside the window below my desk and computer.  The sound of the water flowing gives me such solace.

My father taught me to enjoy nature and the goodness of God.  He passed that down to my brother and me {my sister doesn’t really like bugs or getting dirty but she loves to get flowers!}.  My brother grew unbelievable vegetable gardens-my mother always commented that he was born 100 years too late.  He loved being outside in and around nature.  Last year, he passed away in early June.  My peonies and some other flowers were blooming and so I cut them as a last gift to him, and these were my “Bob” flowers.

And this was my last rose of 2008.

Enjoy the spring, and I would truly love to hear about your plans for spring and summer planting!

hugs, mb

I will be linking this over at Hooked on Houses-Hooked on Fridays-be sure to head over there for inspiration.