In the Garden

I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses. And the voice I hear, falling on my ear, the Son of God discloses...

In my seminary days, when I was younger, I never could understand the popularity of this old hymn. It didn't seem to be particularly Biblically-based or theologically accurate, so what was it doing in the hymnal? (I confess that I sometimes dealt with boring sermons by thumbing through the hymnal and analyzing the theology of the hymns therein.) Come, on? Dew on the roses? Voice of woe? What was that all about, anyway? But it was a favorite of my parents and grandparents, and I gained a greater appreciation for it when I read about the "story behind the song", which was the song was meant to express the thoughts and feelings of Mary Magdalene on that first Easter morning, when she found the tomb empty and encountered the risen Christ. That explanation of the song may be apocryphal, but that doesn't change its significance. Stories don't have to be factually correct to be true.

The hymn resonates with so many because it is not about theology or logic. Rather, it expresses emotion and longing for relationship and companionship with God. Now that I have my own garden, I too find myself drawn to come and sit and listen for the voice of God...and find that it is there.

"And he walks with me, and he talks with me, and He tells me I am His own. And the joy we share as we tarry there, none other has ever known."

Thoughts on the lilies of the field and birds of the air

It's a lovely, cool, overcast morning and I'm enjoying coffee in the gazebo today, knowing that there won't be too many more cool mornings before the heat of the summer sets in. From where I am sitting, I can smell roses and honeysuckle, and see ripening peaches and corn plants rising, and the blooms of calla lilies, larkspur, bachelor's button, hollyhock, sweet peas, poppies, nasturtiums, and pink Mexican primrose. Tecoma, coreopsis and blanket flower are beginning to bloom and soon will be the major source of color as the summer begins. There are a surprising number of small birds busy among the flowers, looking for seeds or nesting materials I'd assume.

I'm reminded of the passage in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus tells his followers to consider the lilies of the field and the birds of the air:

25 "Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
²⁷Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?
²⁸"So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; ²⁹and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
³¹"Therefore do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?' or "What shall we drink?' or "What shall we wear?' ³²For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. ³³But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. ³⁴Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

I tend to worry a lot, especially when reading the news, which thanks (or no thanks) to technology is possible to a much greater degree today than in the days when we were limited to the morning newspaper and the nightly news. Observing life in my garden this morning reminds me of God's concern and care for my needs, and for those of His creation. If God lavishes such abundant beauty on flowers, which will soon burn up in the summer's heat, and provides food for the birds, should I not be reassured that my needs will be supplied?

A second thought I had this morning- the flowers wouldn't be as beautiful and the birds wouldn't be enjoying the nourishment they provide if I hadn't planted, fertilized and watered, and pulled a lot of weeds. I think God expects humans to work in partnership with Him in caring for His creation, and that's what He meant when He told humans to "replenish the earth" in Genesis.

Springtime in the Desert

"For behold, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone.
'The flowers have already appeared in the land;
The time has arrived for pruning the vines,
And the voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land.
'The fig tree has ripened its figs,
And the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance.
Arise, my darling, my beautiful one,
And come along!"

I've been rather busy during the month of March actually working in the garden and haven't bothered to write about it. This is the most enjoyable time of the year to do so- it hasn't gotten unbearably hot yet (okay, we've had one hundred-degree day so far, but it's cooled off since then) and I delight in seeing something new almost every day. I don't have a vegetable garden, a flower garden, or an herb garden...I have a gloriously eclectic mix of things that look good, smell good, or taste good all mixed together. Our several raised beds contain small fruit trees, herbs, vegetables, and flowers. Some of these were deliberately planted from nursery six-packs (love the price wars between Home Depot and Lowe's on these), some came from seed packets, both specific kinds, and packets of mixed seeds, and some reseeded from last year. I like a full garden, so when seed germination is sparse, I stick something else in the bare spots.

We've had a lot to do this spring, too, because of the unfortunate timing of two "once in a century" hard freezes this winter. The two ficus trees in our back yard were completely killed, while the older ones in our front yard were killed off to the ground. Bougainvillea, tecoma, hibiscus, all vines except honeysuckle were killed off to the ground, and thevetias took a pretty hard hit as well. So we've been doing lots more pruning, but most things (other than ficus and some of the hibiscus) are coming back.

We replaced the ficus in the back yard with a Bradford flowering pear and a Hong Kong orchid, and the ones in the front with Chinese elms. In place of the hibiscus around the pool, we planted Little John bottlebrush and Texas mountain laurel. These plants are a little more cold tolerant, and hopefully will survive the next freeze. Or at least, so I have been told.

One of our peach trees was in bloom at the time of the second frost, so not surprisingly it doesn't have the amount of fruit it normally does. Other trees (three kinds of pear, apple, Santa Rosa plum, nectarine, fig, and a later-fruiting variety of peach) flowered abundantly and appear to be setting a nice crop of fruit which we're trying to keep reasonably thinned out. I don't see anything that looks like almonds on the almond tree, but we only added it last summer. We're attempting a nursery-bought avocado tree in one of the raised beds this year; we have several grown from pits that have survived several years but never produced fruit. Of course, we have our usual bumper crop of lemons, oranges, and grapefruit. The lime trees (Key lime and Bearss) were frost-nipped but should survive, albeit with no fruit this year. There are dozens of grape clusters on our four vines, more than we've ever seen before, our relatively young blueberry bush is loaded with berries, and I saw a flower on our blackberry bush today.

As far as flowering plants go, roses are in full bloom, along with snapdragons and many kinds of wildflowers from a Southwestern mix packet- blanket flower, lupine, owl clover, Mexican poppy, and some kind of red flower I haven't seen before. The petunias and pansies I put in last fall are somewhat disappointing. Larkspur (from seed) is beginning to bloom, with poppies and coreopsis ready to flower any day now.

The sugar snap pea crop, which was abundant the past two years, was a disappointment this year. It's been replaced by snap beans, both bush and pole varieties. The two asparagus plants we put in last year have sent up dozens of tasty-looking shoots, which required an enormous amount of self-control to leave alone as recommended for the first season. After enjoying all the romaine and red leaf lettuce we wanted for several months, we'll have to go back to store-bought salads as it has started to bolt. We've put out transplants of several kinds of tomato, peppers, and a Japanese eggplant as well as starting Armenian cucumber, straight and crookneck squash, and honeydew melon plants from seed. The cold weather killed off the basil plant, so I replaced it, but other herbs planted last year- oregano, thyme, and mint- are thriving. We added a catnip plant this year- will see what the cats think of fresh vs. dried.

So...as I said, I've been busy. I won't mention weed-pulling...the regular garden-variety dandelion-type weeds, or the invasive Mexican primroses and petunias that I wish I'd never planted...but there is always something to see and/or do!