Life Lessons From a Gardener

There are very few things in life as satisfying as planting flower bulbs. So many things in life may or may not pay off. You save money for the future, but who knows if it will be enough or even if you will get to use it. You work at meeting people and developing relationships in the hopes of making a connection and finding someone to spend your life with, only to be rejected again and again. You work hard at your job, spending more time there than you do at anything else, but few of us will see that promotion we want or actually work ourselves to the top of the ladder. But when you plant something, especially bulbs, there's a tangible payoff. A few hours of work in the fall and then you wait, and trust.

The gloom of winter sets in and you look forward to being warm again. During the bitter cold days and the freezing nights of winter, you start to think it will never end. Then, after the worst of winter is over and the gray days seem to stretch on forever, suddenly the purple and white crocuses poke up out of the mushy snow and announce that spring is on its way.

“Don’t give up hope,” they say. “Spring will be here soon, I promise. Winter can’t hold on forever.”

They continue to bloom for a few weeks as the snow melts and the sky clears. Then one sunny but still chilly day, the daffodils and narcissus grow up almost overnight. They display their bright yellows and whites and confirm the message:

“Spring is here! It'll be warm and pleasant soon. Just wait for a little longer. You can do it.”

It gives you hope and you hold on a little longer. The black mood of winter lifts a little in anticipation of better times. The climate warms up and the tulips and hyacinth come up, along with the brilliant tulip lilies and the tiny grape hyacinths. The lilies of every shape and color start showing their leaves, to gain the strength to show their cheery colors in late spring and summer. The trees put on their leaves and blossoms, and all is right with the world once again. Spring is here and everything will be ok. Winter is over and it cannot hold us captive in it’s cold embrace any longer. And it all started with those bulbs you planted last fall.

Each year those bulbs grow. The small bulbs you planted pull in nourishment from the ground and from the leaves they put out. All they require is water and decent earth to grow in. They get bigger and they give bigger flowers that bloom longer each year. The bulbs split after a few years and where you had only one flower coming up, you now have two or three or four. Once in a while, you might even need to dig those bulbs up and separate them, since they have split so many times. You'll have an entire garden full of flowers to help you greet the spring. All you had to do was plant those first bulbs and wait, and trust that the spring would come.

Plant your beauty, your kindness, your love, even when things look cold and bleak. Don't worry too much about the winter. Trust your flowers will come.