photo by Lynn H. Wyvill
We lived many years in a house where the yard was mostly shaded so gardening was all about hostas, ferns, azaleas, primroses and impatiens.
Now our house gets mostly sun, so we’re experimenting with plants that love the bright, hot light. In one of our trips to the garden center, we found plants called “sunpatiens,” impatiens that love the sun. These plants may have been around a while but because we needed plants for shade we never noticed. We loved our impatiens, so we decided to give them a try.
They had only been in pots a day or two, and we got frost. The one above survived easily, but the rest of the sunpatiens looked awful the next morning. Their leaves were shriveled up and “crunchy” where the frost had done their damage. Some of the tiny buds were a loss, too.
We weren’t ready to give up so we trimmed the damaged parts and carefully replanted them. They all seem to be doing well now with new growth of healthy leaves. We are optimistic that they will make it.
I’ve been thinking a lot about those plants and how their lives are like our own. We’ve all had the frost of disappointment, hurt, and setbacks that hit us at one time or another. Sometimes the damage is a bump in the road; other times, it’s huge, life-changing.
Nature proves we can make a comeback, survive and thrive eventually.
So we trim our damage, gather our strength, and replant ourselves.
Just like the plants accept help from us, we accept help from others who nurture us and remind us we are strong.
We are hardy, resilient.
We turn our faces to the sun and go on.
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Lynn H. Wyvill grew up in Washington DC where her favorite activity was sitting under a Japanese red maple tree, watching clouds create pictures in the sky. As a writer, she finds peace and inspiration when hiking in the woods, strolling on sandy beaches, and observing nature’s show in her backyard. Those experiences are captured in her first book, Nature’s Quiet Wisdom. Before writing books, Lynn worked as a radio/TV reporter and writer for the US Department of Agriculture and owned a consulting business that trained professionals on the creation and delivery of effective presentations. She is a lifelong learner, avid reader, small town explorer, and dedicated theater attendee who lives in beautiful Virginia with her husband.