I enjoy a garden view from my corner chair in my bedroom. I love to sit inside and view the garden unfold daily during the spring and summer.
There are a few favorite flowers that I start by seed because they aren’t found at a nursery or they are costly in plant form. My favorite seeds to start are sunflowers and purple and green zinnias. These seeds are nearly impervious to the vagaries of planting.
This year, however, everything I started from seed failed.
I gave thought to all the reasons for the failed harvest.
- I started too soon.
- I put them out too early.
- I overwatered.
- I underwatered.
- My window didn’t have sufficient light.
So I gave up and called it a loss supplementing my garden with whatever I could find in my local garden shop.
Then Gary sent me a picture. Wedged against the wall was a volunteer.
Volunteer plants are those that come up in the garden with no effort on your part. They germinate from seeds dropped by flowers in previous years, or seeds can arrive stuck to the fur and skin of small animals or dropped by birds.
A few things hit me when I saw what he shared.
It doesn’t mean nothing is growing when nothing you try to start grows.
Mary
Sometimes you need someone else’s eyes to notice what is growing in the least likely of places.
Without someone sharing that story – you will remain convinced of failure.
I was evaluating my garden year based on my annual attempt at starting seeds, ignoring the years of success and the years of other plantings I had done. Also, ignoring this truth in seed form from I Corinthians 3:
So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. I Corinthians 3: 7 NKJV
It isn’t all up to you: That doesn’t mean don’t try: don’t water, don’t plant.
Do the work – celebrate when it flourishes and when it doesn’t, especially when it doesn’t look for God to be growing things in the least expected of places.
I am sharing what is growing right now in my garden! What growth are you celebrating and sharing?
