The Victor

Do you remember my tale of woe regarding the savage herbivore who ravished my would-be lilies?
Do you remember that the short one escaped?

Well, just take a look at it now!

Ahhhh, yes! And I am so happy with my precious, beautiful, shorter-than-the-others, brave little flower. Even more, I am delighted that one other flower had not yet shown itself when the angel of death loomed near. If you look closely you can see its bud just above the bloom.
Mmmhmmm. I'm going to have TWO flowers blooming in that little lily patch for the rest of the summer.
In spite of the voracity of our neighborhood deer.

Take that, Bambi!

The *Not Happy* Report

So, the barbarian animal that recently munched on my hostas?
Has been at it again. But this time it attacked ate my lilies.
(Thus, I believe the culprit is a deer. The lilies are too tall for a bunny to reach.)
I made the sad discovery as I was watering my zinnias last week, and while I was disappointed I knew it wasn't the end of the world. After all, these lilies are in the back yard and no one but me will really miss them. But I did take a picture and colored a white spot on the tips of the stems - just so you can see how many buds the vandal deer consumed.

Moments later, however, I came upon a scene which really got me angry.
That is to say, a couple of years ago I planted lilies by our driveway - where lots of people can see them - and I have been tending to them lovingly ever since. And early this summer I got so happy when I saw a marked increase in the number of stems coming from one particular set of lilies. Every time I passed them my heart did a little leap for joy in anticiaption of how beautiful they were going to be all summer long.
But last week after I decided not to be upset about the lilies in the back yard which had been eaten, I came upon this sight: *cue Psycho music*

Ahhhhhh! Are you kidding me? I'm counting 32 stems which have been violated by some savage beast, who didn't even care about or stop to consider the joy it was stealing from me - all for a moment of juicy pleasure, as it wiped out any possibility for these lilies to produce flowers this year.
Thirty-two stems!!!
Each one which would likely have produced anywhere from 4 to 8 flowers throughout the summer. That's hundreds of blooms wiped out by one thoughtless, brutal herbivore.

The nerve.

In my angst, I *might* have considered putting venison on the menu for dinner that night.
But then I got closer to my would-be flowers and had this pleasant encounter:

I located one stem which didn't reach as high as the others and had, therefore, escaped the decimation expereinced by its taller comrades. (Lesson learned: Being short sometimes has advantages.)
Thus, in a moment of sudden reprieve I decided to pardon the leviathon of its grevious offense, and choose instead to look forward to the blooms which this little shoot will produce. (Secretly, this lone survivor gives me a sense of victory over that deer. As in, the ability to say, "You missed me! You missed me! Na-na-na-na-na!!!" Re-visiting my childhood with that statement.)

Oh, and I did go immediately to The Home Depot garden department and purchased a spray (which won't harm the killers animals) guaranteed to repel four-legged plant eaters. I sure hope it works!

In the Garden

He also said, "This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain - first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head."

~Mark 4:26-28

As I walk in my back yard toward my flower garden, this verse comes into my mind. Because every night and day since I have scattered my seeds - whether I have been sleeping or getting up (or laying in be wishing I was sleeping *ahem*) - they have been sprouting and growing.
Except, well, I know how.
That is, because God is faithful and He is a miracle-worker!
And that, right there, is the greater reason I love my flower garden. I mean, the beautiful blooms I am anticipating delight me. But it is the constant and consistent reminder of God's faithfulness and power that makes my spirit soar.
Especially this season, when I wasn't even sure the seeds were "good" or that they would grow, I am wonderfully encouraged to remember that God is in all and over all and working all things out.

Even since last week, my little garden is progressing beautifully.

See? I don't need to draw green lines in order for you to see where the zinnias are sprouting.
(I have even thinned them out, so they will have more room to grow and flourish. And, believe me, pulling sprouts was not easy for me to do because I didn't want to harm those innocent little plants. *gulp*)
Yet another lesson from my Father about pruning and planning and hard times being used for good.

OH, and do you remember the suspicion I had that the alyssum have returned?
Confirmed! Check out the tiny flowers which have already begun blooming!

When I was weeding I came across some leaves of which I wasn't sure.
I decided to let them be "just in case" they were alumni from a plant my friend gave me last summer.

And when I compared them to new plants of the same kind she gave me to plant this year, I found my just-in-case actions to be justified. (Do you see the resemblance?)

And, speaking of alumni...
The Everlastings (For which the ladies from my Precept class gave me seeds last year.) are back!

These beauties are on the side of the house and are situated right next to two rows of zinnia sprouts. Looking forward to lots of colorful blooms!

I wish that was all I had to say about my garden and the flora around my house. But the truth is, while I am simply delighted with the plants that are growing I am also quite annoyed with an animal, or two.
Remember my tulips that lost their heads this spring?
Well, I'm thinking this chomping was done by a larger scoundrel.
So, yeah. While some wonderful growth has been happening around my yard, this has occurred, too.

Yet, even as a look at my chewed-on plants (And as I realize the scoundrel animal didn't have it in for me. It was just hungry and was happy to come upon these morsels.) God reminds me that He is the author of life - and new life! I can trust Him to bring these plants back again.

Garden Hopes

Do you see what I see???

OK, maybe not.
Lemme help you out a bit with seeing what I'm seeing...

Those little specs above the green lines. Do you know what they are???
They're the beginnings of zinnias in my garden. And I'm so excited!
Not just because they're going to be beautiful flowers later this summer. But because of their history!
I mean, do you remember the flower garden I planted last year?
It was a labor of love.
I really loved it.
And somewhere in those summer months I learned that I could harvest seeds from the flowers in my garden, and use them to plant new flowers this year. So I did some research (That is, I watched videos on Youtube...) and discovered how to get those seeds.
Then I waited as patiently as I could for the petals on the flowers to dry out, and when the day finally came - I got the seeds! And they've been sitting in a little container in my refrigerator all fall, winter, and spring, just waiting for the right time to be planted.
I got the flowerbed ready and planted my seeds a week and a half ago, and waited nervously to see if my little seeds would grow.
Because, honestly, I wasn't sure I had harvested the seeds correctly. That is, I was so eager to get them that I feared I may have not waited long enough for the petals to dry. Thought maybe the seeds hadn't matured enough, or weren't ready for some other reason.
(Have I mentioned before that I am not the best wait-er on the planet?)
So, anyway, since last summer there has been a nagging doubt in the back of my mind, occasionally throwing out questions regarding the viability of those little seeds. And since I put them in the ground eleven days ago, those questions have been coming more frequently.
Until Saturday when I went out to water them, and what I saw delighted my eyes.
Sprouts! Little zinnia sprouts!
Offspring of the beautiful flowers I tended last summer.
And inspiration for years to come. I just think it is so cool to plant seeds and grow flowers from flowers I have already grown.
Oh, and one more thing!
I am not fully certain, but I think the alyssum I planted last year re-seeded itself. Because I've heard that can happen, and these leaves look very familiar to me!

So, I'm looking forward to tending the children of last year's flower garden.
And you can look forward to pictures!