Bloom where you're planted... | Charlotte Observer

Bloom where you’re planted…

You would think it would be easy, since I already have roots here, but it’s not.

Since we sold our house six weeks ago, I have been fussing and complaining to various degrees…   Not constantly, but far more often than I care to consider…   At times I’ve hardly been able to stand being around myself.

John’s ongoing delight in our new surroundings hasn’t helped my disposition…

So I’ve retreated.   For years now, I’ve sought and found a measure of peace outside in the garden.   As space is extremely limited in our current residence, the yard has become the place to find my lost composure…

There’s plenty of work to be done, as the lot has been mostly neglected for decades; I also brought plants with me that I couldn’t bear to leave behind: an assortment of daylilies and iris, a lilac, a Japanese maple and a gardenia.

Every gardener knows, however, that transplanting is a tricky business…

I treated all of my special treasures the same: careful site selection, appropriate soil amendments and ample watering.   Of the three shrubs, only the gardenia has managed to survive.  

I’m surprised it’s done so well, since it is the oldest and biggest of the bunch.   But I’m grateful, because it’s also the most important to me…my girlfriends, the “S” contingent, gave it to me six years ago in Brian’s memory.  

In the past I’ve observed that older, established plants struggle mightily when abruptly relocated.  

Kind of like me.

And yet here is my beloved gardenia, reaching for the sky without reservation, despite the new environment.

I don’t know why we’re here; it could be for any number of reasons of which I’m aware or possibly others yet to be revealed…

I’ve got to stop thinking about the ‘why’ and accept the ‘where’.   It’s time to settle in and make peace with this change of scenery.  

Taking a clue from the gardenia, I’m going to look up, reach out and pray for acceptance until peace finally takes hold in my heart…

Wishing you blessings and hope…

Tammy will update her blog weekly…