It's the Simple Things

 

Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth.  He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness. ~Psalm 96:13

One of my greatest joys in springtime, one that I missed last year due to the pandemic, is choosing and potting plants and flowers for our deck.  We have to be careful about our selections as there isn't an overabundance of sun in our wooded environs, but I'm pleased with what we are able to find at our local Home Depot.

As always, we go with some shade-tolerant impatiens, a large one with pinky-purple blooms, and a smaller with darker blossoms.

These have a track record for success!

Not as flashy, but suited to the task, are two ground-cover plants, the Virginia Creeper

and Lemon Coral sedum.

The good news is, these two will grow long past the summer months.  The Virginia Creeper develops red and orange hues in the fall, and with any luck, we will eventually see blooms on the sedum!

Several years ago, we did purchase a hydrangea.

We plant it in our yard in the fall, knowing it is a perennial.  The drawback?  We have a plethora of deer in our neighborhood, and we find out the hard way that deer consider hydrangeas a delicacy.  Who knew?  Anyway, this plant will live on our deck permanently, provided we can find a pot large enough in which to transplant it when the time comes.  But one question remains:  Will the blooms be pink or blue?  We'll have to wait until the actual gender reveal!

And what's this little Christmas fir doing here?

No, we don't buy it from Home Depot.  It's a Christmas gift from son, Nicco, last December.  We leave it in its original pot in the yard through the winter, and are pleased and surprised to see new needle growth this past spring.  It simply made good sense to repot it; we hope to plant it in the yard in the fall.

Here's the flashy superstar of the show, the Petunia Amore.

What's not to love?  Yet, this plant could prove to be problematic if it needs more sun than what shines on our deck.  And our recent heavy rains (think six inches!) have wreaked havoc with the flowers, but we have faith that this beauty will make a comeback.

Needless to say, I'm rejoicing in my tiny spring garden, and looking forward to enjoying the plants all summer long and beyond.  I've come to realize that it's the simplest of life's pleasures that bring the most joy and contentment to me.

I pray you've discovered that very same thing to be true for you.

Amen!