Should I Tell Them?

We have had several weeks down into the 20’s and they shouldn’t be blooming right now. How is it, do you think, that something so fragile can have such a will to survive? This basket has been totally neglected for a couple of months now, yet these Petunias continue to give us blooms.

The Brazilian Bog Sage, while unable to produce but a few tiny specks of blue, still refuses to give up as well.

I despise the winter. Some years it’s a very difficult time for me. Where other people feel the friskiness in the cool air and find joy in the changing leaf colors, I’m not always able to see and feel the same thing. On those years I only feel temperatures that make me cold to the bone and no matter how hard I try, I can't get warm. I look around and I see my favorite colors disappear and everything turns shades of brown and gray and I become very tired. I withdraw and want to stay in the warmth and seclusion of my home. To help me on these rare seasons I fill my home with tons of objects that sparkle and shine to remind me of the summer sun that I love so much.

The garden seems to sense my reluctance to turn loose of summer this year. It’s trying very hard to still give me glimpses of color and to remind me of what will return this summer and replace all that is gone now. Just look at this Sky Vine still giving me a show of purple. The crispy brown vines of the one planted on the fence have been removed for over a week now.

Even being protected from the frost by the eaves of the house the temperatures alone should have destroyed the vines. Yet, it still has more buds waiting to open.

This Daisy Mum is a volunteer. It wasn’t even planted, but it refuses to go away. She is totally unaware the temperatures have been as low as 22 degrees.

Clarence hangs on for dear life with its frost bitten, wilted bloom. There are still three more getting ready to open.

The Climbing Aster and Rosemary are still blooming.

Even the Azaleas refuse to stop providing me with that beautiful pink I love so much and have so little of in our garden. Walking around I suddenly realized that everything needs a period of resting, plants, animals and even humans. After all we are mammals are we not? And, a large majority of mammals spend their cold periods resting and sleeping, it is the nature of things. Maybe on those falls when we don’t feel as well as others it’s not really a seasonal disorder as so many doctors are quick to label it. Maybe it’s our bodies telling us, you have been way too busy these past few months. It’s time to return to the inward nature that you once knew and use this period to rest. All that being said, I made the decision to “Tell Them”. I explained that it was very important that they rest right now, because I was expecting a huge show of flowers the coming spring and summer, and it would use a lot of energy. I would be just fine and don’t worry about me.

The next morning a rather amazing thing happened. We had a very large frost, but no larger than the ones we have had several times a week for the past three weeks. I walked around the yard to check on them and they have all gone to sleep now, with the understanding of course that the Camellias will still be keeping an eye on me from time to time. Something else wonderful happened that day, but, that’s a whole nuther’ entry. I am happy.

Until spring, I shall live in a home filled with brilliant sparkles and hundreds of colored rainbows.