In the garden with Mary (part 2)

When I was working on getting the Mary Garden cleaned up, all the thoughts about life and faith seemed so profound.  The longer I am from those couple of days, the less so they seem.  But, I suppose, if I wrote a part 1, I should at least write a part 2.

I can relate so much of what I do and see in the garden to what I should be doing with my faith.  But, obviously, being human, there is always much room for improvement.  These are my reminders.

I need the right tools.

If I work in the garden with just my bare hands, I might make some progress.  I can guarantee you I am going to get dirty.  It's going to be slow going.  And, as I have experienced before, the bugs are going to get me.  Hornets and wasps, oh my! 

Gloves, shovels, clippers and saws make the work so much easier.  Put a little bit of fertilizer and weed killer into the mix and the garden does so much better.

How about some Preen in your faith life? Try this on for size.




Don't give up.

When we visited Williamsburg a number of years ago, we fell in love with the Crepe Myrtle trees that grow so prolifically in the area.  We brought a start from one of the trees there home as a souvenir, but the poor tree didn't survive our climate.  We later found a Crepe Myrtle shrub at a local garden center that was supposed to be more suitable to our zone 6 winters.   Normal zone 6 winters, that is. 

This past winter is one most of us would rather forget.  Unfortunately, we lost some shrubs in the yard due to the horrible cold and harsh winds.  We thought our Crepe Myrtle was one of them and I was ready to take a shovel to it and dig it out.

Much to my surprise and delight, there was some new growth. We trimmed off the dead branches and now have a thriving, albeit shorter, bush.  Sometimes the new growth is just small and hiding, but it is there.



 More of a good thing isn't always better.

When I first put in the Mary Garden, I added a couple of these plants.  At first they were a little slow to grow, but now, they are spreading like crazy.  If I didn't pluck out the new starts, the garden would be filled with nothing but this plant.

I look at this plant like food and drink.  Both are good.  Both are necessary and enjoyable.  But too much of either makes me fat, lazy, a glutton and/or a lush. 

Here's a challenge for you.  I no longer have the tag for this plant and have no idea what it is.  I think the name starts with an "M", but I can't be sure.  Figure out what it is and I'll send you a prize!

Cultivate the good and the beautiful

Two of my favorite plants in this garden are the Lady's Mantle and my John Paul 2 tea rose.  The Lady's Mantle is a fairly easy plant to grow and I have been finding "volunteers" of it not only in this garden but in gardens all over the yard.  There are all sorts of prayers and devotions to her that are easy to find as well.

St. John Paul 2 had a great devotion to Mary.  This rose reminds me of him often as it can sometimes be a bit fragile to grow, but even with the suffering he faced his spirit and love of our Lord and His mother grew.

Protect your faith

The devil is a temptress.  He likes pretty, shiny things to lure us away from what is true and good.  Like the mama deer and her two babies, he will try to nibble away at what we work so hard to grow and nurture. I use deer repellent to protect my roses.  What do I use to protect my soul?

AMDG