My Garden is Trying to Tell Me Something

May 6, 2009

Last spring, my garden was a dazzling array of colors. You may recall from my “Young, Confused Iris” post that one purple iris in particular stole the show. She was amazingly beautiful. But she had some tough competition, too: pink dogwoods, orange daylilies, burgundy irises, red roses, yellow daffodils, multi-colored lantana, pink and purple azaleas, and bright pink crape myrtles surrounded my house. It was a color explosion that brightened my days and always cheered me up.

This year is different. Everything is white.

The pink dogwood didn’t bloom at all. The pink and purple azaleas bloomed early, and were defenseless against a late season frost; they lasted a day or two and died away. The others either haven’t bloomed yet, or won’t bloom at all… it’s too early to tell. What I DO know is, if I look out at my garden in any direction, all I see is white flowers.

Even my lawn is full of them!

Granted, this is our fault for not using one of those chemical weed and feed mixtures, but my husband and I really like the weeds better than the grass. Who came up with the idea that lawns should consist of little green swords that require a lot of work and chemical intervention? The weeds are so much prettier, with all their textures and flowers, and they don’t need any attention at all… but anyway, even the lawn weeds have WHITE flowers this year. I haven’t seen the yellow dandelion blooms we usually have.

The very first signs of spring this year were the dogwoods, scattered throughout the woods around my house. You just can’t live in Georgia and not have dogwoods. They are as Southern as sweet tea and pecan pie. Their presence is very comforting, but the absence of the pink one was quite noticeable.

But the biggest surprise of all this season has been the white irises. I believe they have staged a rebellion, perhaps in response to my adoration of the purple one. This year the purple and burgundy irises are smaller and less impressive. The white ones are enormous, and stunning in their shimmering beauty! Who knew a plain white iris could command such attention?

So simple, yet so beautiful.

So I am left wondering if this could possibly be a coincidence, or if nature is trying to tell me something? What does an all-white garden mean? Is it a message of Peace, or New Beginnings? Or maybe it is a reminder that bright and flashy isn’t necessarily better… plain is beautiful too.

What do YOU think? Is it a coincidence, or is my garden teaching me (or you) a lesson?

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Posted in beauty, inner peace, simplicity