Tag: Early Spring Flowers

A Change In The Wind

“In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours.” ~ Mark Twain


Friday, I played hooky for a few hours and snuck out to the garden. Within minutes, I was peeling off layers like an onion and thinking it was time to move the winter clothes into storage. A week of mid-70’s in early February gets me dreaming about planting spring annuals, but I have wised up a bit through the years.

The city gardens – tucked in and protected from the elements creating their own micro-climate – scream “spring!”



But the Homeward Bound Memorial Garden knows otherwise. A few brave bulbs, the rosemary, and the Ceanothus have appeared,



but the rest of the garden felt a change was in the wind – literally.

It blew in from the north on Saturday – 25 mph of cold in our faces and dropping our reality down a more seasonable twenty degrees. I know. Quit whining. You’re California-spoiled.

Truth be told, none of us are quite ready for spring yet. Spring means summer – and those 100+ degree days will be here soon enough.

So stay tucked under the covers little bulbs, and don’t quite unwrap yet tiny buds –


We’ll take a few more weeks of sweatshirts and Golden blankets.

And some rain would be lovely, too.

“The course of the seasons is a piece of clock-work, with a cuckoo to call when it is springtime.” ~ Georg Christoph Lichtenberg

Nature Finds A Way

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Given that our Memorial Garden was under water just a week ago, I was surprised and amazed to find it beginning to bud and bloom.

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It seems impossible that the bulbs, plants and trees survived submersion for so long and still pushed forward to beckon spring.

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Mother Nature is nothing if not persistent. She has her limits, mind you, but a plant’s purpose is to go forth and produce the leaves from which it feeds and seeds it sows to ensure its future.

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“The greatest oak was once a little nut who held its ground.” ~ Author Unknown

Nature finds a way.

It’s an important reminder. When obstacles block our path and threaten what we believe to be right, fair, and true to our purpose – like nature – we need to adapt until we find our way beyond the barrier.

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It means taking collective and personal responsibility, even when the going is tough.

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It means standing up for what is right.

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Life is full of impediments and hurdles – persistence and personal responsibility are the tools required to clear them.

“You cannot change the circumstances, the seasons, or the wind, but you can change yourself.” ~ Jim Rohn

We can find a way.

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