“Cursed is the ground.” Yes, I have been wanting to write about gardening as I continue my first decade of writing. When I began this blog, I tested the waters by posting some “glearnings” from gardening. A new yard (and new climate and new soil) inspires me to discuss gardening again. From an early moment when I mistakenly thought the builder had cleared out a cherished live oak, what a trial the raw landscape has been! I have no trouble understanding the Garden of Eden curse. But like the curse of painful childbearing which culminates joyfully in a baby’s birth, “toil in the soil” richly rewards the heart and soul. (Find the two curses in Genesis 3:16-17)
So, what happened in our new yard? Well, surprisingly stuff grows in sand! We started with seeding a lawn and it worked! Sowing grass seed in bare sand seemed impossible but the seed germinated; we have a grassy lawn except where a heavy rain washed out a hilly spot and pesty crabgrass happily filled in.
I admit that I enjoy the better end of our gardening equation: my husband does the hard and heavy work while I play with plants. So far, I’ve had six months of garden dabbling with a host of mishaps to show for it. Here are a few of my fiascos:
We transported about two dozen of our favorite hostas to NC. While waiting to be planted (on the patio table), the deer feasted one night leaving us barely a stem! Talk about preparing a table for my (gardening) enemies, Psalm 23:5! A few other remaining hostas set out in a border were pulverized by a strong hailstorm just a week or two later! A transplanted oak sapling, also from Virginia, met its demise with the mower.
New flowers I tried ended similarly. A splurge purchase of a beautiful unique vinca, which would reseed annually, mysteriously keeled over, probably stray herbicide! Locally popular mandevilla vines have yielded zero growth and blooms. Portulacas that I remember self-seeding in the sidewalk cracks of my childhood neighborhood apparently drowned with too much rain. Four ‘o clocks that I grew from seed aren’t blooming at four o’ clock, nor at any time. A friend sent me lily bulbs which produced lovely pink flowers but they’re another deer delicacy, so I netted them … but the netting trapped a snake, a good snake that we wanted to keep around. (My brother-in-law managed to free it with his fishing expertise.) Geraniums hate the heat, and torrenia didn’t fare any better. Indoors, the Majestic Palm that I planted on Palm Sunday unfurls fresh fronds that quickly turn an unroyal brown. But with grass underfoot, some lush potted ferns, and a planned landscape to be installed next month, we count our blessings in this new place. I think gardeners like me embrace “the thrill of victory AND the agony of defeat,” as ABC’s Wide World of Sports used to say!
The Bible speaks often about all types of vegetation; it was written during a time when earth’s produce greatly impacted survival, keeping our ancestors attuned to their environment. Many Scriptures suit my topic of gardening, but I will share a verse I read today. It mentioned a tree flourishing in its native soil (Psalm 37:35). Incorporating native flora and trees promotes the environment. I enjoy finding and planting natives. In the context of Psalm 37, the thriving tree compares to the flourishing of evil, when wickedness seems to thrive. Certainly, godless philosophy gains the upper hand at times, and right living faces threats, but the rest of the verse promises this about evil times: (it) passed away and was no more and could not be found (Psalm 37:36). We can rest well on that promise.
