One Year Later

One year ago today I decided to celebrate my birthday by going to the garden center and buying some plants.  It was a bit melancholy because early September is at the tail-end of the season, and is a time that is treated like a lost child.  Making the best of the situation, I decided to take advantage of the end-of-season sales (at least 50% off everything.)

I bought a gaura linaheineri (white butterfly flower) to be placed in a pastel section of my border.  I knew that these perennials did not always survive the winter.  This past Spring, I concluded that, indeed, the gaura had not made it.

I have done a lot of work in that  area this year - moving plants, weeding, pruning.  I was quite surprised, then, when I saw a plant that I had not noticed all year - the gaura that I planted last year.

My plan last year was to have this flower be the centerpiece.  I am letting that idea go, just glad to see it blooming gracefully in my garden.

I also purchased a trellised Mandevilla, an annual in the Boston area.  It looked beautiful on my front porch in September and October.  We put it in our bedroom in the fall, hoping for the best.  The Mandevilla really did not make it.  I bought another one, that is quite happy on my really hot, really sunny roof deck.  This fall we will put it in our den, which gets lots of sun, and keep our fingers crossed.

I learned a lot from my experience of believing that a plant that I thought had died had actually soldiered on and survived.  I learned that actions we take do not always produce expected results.  Sometimes, maybe more often than not, patience is rewarded.