Tulips

One of the few things that keeps me "grounded" is gardening. You, as the Gardner, are required to create an environment for life to flourish. You are required to exhibit patience and sometimes you must water bare soil for weeks. Madness defined. But then you see the first emerald peeking through the dark earth. You are once again invigorated and renewed in your love for the process. It's the process of life.

I find the planting of the seed to be rather a mundane job, for it seems the bees have the most fun in this reproductive cycle...or is it really the flower having fun? Not mine to know nor guess. The seed needs a place to sink it's teeth and this happens away from the prying human eye. I have seen documentary footage of seeds and bulbs doing their work beneath the soil and the images are enough to keep me interested in caring for my bare soil...no matter what.

Watching your plants grow becomes the grease for your wheel. You see the efforts resulting in something living. Your hand was instrumental in completing the lifecycle of the plant. This is not to say that the plant couldn't do this on it's own, I am merely glad to have a " hand " in it.

I find the most pleasure in the maintenance of my plants. Clipping the dead limbs and turning the soil. Feeding them with water and food. Having my hands on them as I learn more and more about life. Their life is like our life. For you see...we both share a common goal to survive but cannot do it alone. Along our life's journey we are required to somehow provide a path for the next generation to follow with as many of the questions answered as possible. Each plant of mine is fighting the same battle to provide enough beauty in this generation to forge ahead for the next of it's kind. It is a process. It is life.

I recently viewed an episode of The Victory Garden (pbs.org) dedicated to tulips and found the motivation for this homage to gardening. A tulip bulb farmer demonstrated the simple process of cross pollination and then a tulip historian showed a bed with the natural cycle of flower mutation up through six generations. Each successive flower was more complicated in structure and color pattern. Fighting for survival requires new clothes sometimes. The changes are called mutations but could be better descibed as indisciminate love. The bee has a taste for nectar and cares little about the flower from whence it came. Seems some flowers might get a little chocolate in their peanut butter from time to time. It might just result in a more attractive flower as demonstrated by a series of tulip beds in Holland.

I highly recommend getting wrist deep in some freshly turned soil. Or, if not so inclined to dirt, get a little plant from somewhere and take care of it. They will take care of you in return.