May Flowers

I had a strange epiphany the other day while walking down the hall at work. Ten steps ahead of me, a hospital volunteer carried a large bouquet of flowers, leaving in her wake a captivating fragrance of freshly cut flowers. Being indoors, especially in a hospital where the odors aren't generally pleasant, the smell caught me off guard and I took time to "smell" the proverbial roses. Flowers always bring a smile to my face, but this time the sight--and smell--warmed my heart with a smile, too, as a strange thought crossed my mind. If you've heard the song by Natalie Grant, "In Better Hands Now", then you'll know the line at near the end where she sings "it's like the breath of Jesus is right here in this room." Call me crazy, but nearly the second I smelled those flowers, I thought that perhaps it was the breath of Jesus filling up that hallway. . .that perhaps when God created the flowers, He gave them the sweetest fragrance of all--the aroma of the very breath of Jesus. It's probably a long shot, but since then I don't smell a flower or anything florally sweet without being reminded that His presence and breath are surrounding me all the time, right here in this room!!

I've always enjoyed working in the garden or any activity that lets me be outside! We had a huge garden growing up--both vegetables and flowers--and I've always enjoyed the pride and accomplishment that working in the garden brings the heart. In Tulsa, my yard was shady and small, overgrown with more trees than any suburban lot should boast. I tried my hands at a few impaciens and hostas. But, it wasn't until I got married and started working in the yard here with Chris that I really started to blossom into the gardening type!! Yes, I am now lumped into a certain stereotype of people who spend the majority of their time at home in the garden!

Chris and I planted the clematises the first fall we were married. He put up the trelices along the back and sides of the fence and we put in our baby clematis vines. Last spring we cut them back as we read was important the first year. They had only a few blossoms, though I rejoiced over every single one. But this year, we returned from our vacation to see a crazy clematis blossom party happening in our own backyard.
Though we've planted a gazillion bulbs and other such plants, the irises were already in the garden. (That's the best kind of flowers, the kind you don't have to plant but still can enjoy)


Michelle bought me a box of lilies for my birthday in January--what a cold, drab time to think about flowers! So, I tell myself every evening when I go walk through my now blooming garden and see the lilies pop up one by one, "Happy Birthday to ME!!" Now that's a birthday gift that just keeps on giving ! Thanks Michelle!!! The problem is that I get so attached to every little bloom that I can hardly let them go when it's their natural time to fade . . . so I take pictures and blog the poor flowers to death!! Just don't expect me to start naming them . . . I ran out of creative names after naming all 302 kittens our sweet Sugar bore when we were kids. And you wonder why I'm a labor & delivery nurse! Did I really have any choice? I grew up as a feline midwife, destined for placentas, umbilical cords and babies!!! (yea yea yea, I don't see any connection here to the beautiful flower below, just be thankful I didn't name it!!)
In place of the overrun, gigantuan morning glory vines that nearly enveloped the entire fence and minibarn, I decided this year to try my hand at tomatoes. If I have 22% of my Dad's green thumb, we'll be okay. Since flower and fruit (yes, tomatoes are fruit, not vegetables) are completely different, I'm a little nervous about the outcome. My hopes would be boxes and boxes of plump, juicy tomatoes, the kind that win blue ribbons at county fairs . . . but I'll settle for a few tasty tomatoes every now and then. Though, I am quite disappointed to find out that it takes somewhere around 65 days from blossom to bite(ripe tomato)! Perhaps the cherry tomatoes will take less since they're smaller?!