A Spring Surprise

I walked around the corner of our condo and looked at all the green sprouts. 

Tulips and daffodils dared to shoot their leaves out of the winter dirt.

As I checked the progress of the hyacinth, I spied the bloom of a crocus.

I'd forgotten I planted the bulbs last year or maybe the year before. 

The lovely lavender buds were a sweet surprise. 

Be a Flower!

Why be a weed, when you can be a flower!

Flower Friday: Impatiens

I snapped a photo of this gorgeous impatiens bloom in my neighbor's garden. Drawn to the gorgeous shade of pink, I admired the simple flower's beauty. Impatiens come in a rainbow of colors: pink, red, white, violet, coral and purple. Even though the plants do reseed, most folks plant them annually from nursery grown plants.  

Flower Friday: Coneflower

The purple coneflower stands guard over the garden. A member of the echinacea family, "The genus name, Echinacea, comes from the Greek word ‘chinos,’ meaning hedgehog." The center of the flower stands out like a prickly little hedgehog.
Bees, butterflies and hummingbirds love the coneflower.
They're easy to grow and add lovely color to the garden.

Grant, Bonnie. “History Of Purple Coneflowers.” Gardening Know How, 5 May 2018, blog.gardeningknowhow.com/tbt/history-of-purple-coneflowers/.

Flower Friday: Hydrangea

The hydrangea bush produces gorgeous blooms in clumps of tiny flowers to create a pom-pom like bouquet. The ones we saw in Maine had huge clusters of almost cloud-like blue blossoms. Did you know hydrangea bloom in pink, blue, white, and purple. 

According to the FTD blog the different colors represent these symbols:

• Pink hydrangeas symbolize heartfelt emotion.
• Blue hydrangeas symbolize frigidity and apology.
• White hydrangeas symbolize boasting or bragging.
• Purple hydrangeas symbolize a desire to deeply understand someone.

Flower Friday: Hollyhock

When I was a little girl, my mom showed me how to refashion the beautiful flowers into dolls who sashayed in the garden. They wore their bright colored blooms as skirts. 

Hollyhocks can grow as tall as ten feet high. 

With their pops of color, they're a lovely addition to any flower garden. 

Pink Hollyhock

Flower Friday: Magic Lily

The delicate pink blossoms stand tall on slender stems. I'd didn't encounter the magic lily until I was in my twenties. A little lady, who lived up the road, told me they were called naked ladies because the leaves had come and gone in the spring. 

These beauties are also referred to as surprise lilies or resurrection lilies. 

These gorgeous flowers bloom in my favorite shade of pink.

Flower Friday: Iris

A row of irises grew along the fence row in the front yard. Dad planted and tended them. He loved his "flags", the southern Ohio name for irises. 

They bloomed in a rainbow of colors. 

Flower Friday: Peony

I have a fond memory of peonies. On Memorial Day weekend, my Grammy and I would snip the stems of the peonies growing in Mom's garden. We'd cover glass jars with foil, add water and place the fragrant flowers in the jars. Then we'd visit Grandpa, Great-grandma, and my great-uncle's graves. Gram would have me dig a small divot, to tuck the bottom of the jar into. My brother carries on this tradition that shows honor and respect. 

Joy of Spring!

Hope!

Hello, Black-eyed Susan!

Every year I look for the first black-eyed Susans of the the summer. I love to see them dance in the fields and along the roads. My favorite flower arrives just in time for my birthday. I believe they are God's way of reminding me he created me and he loves me. Today I discovered the first Susan bloom in my own flower bed. She smiled and said, "Hello! I'm here." 

Love in a Mist

My dear friend, Phoebe, gave me this beautiful blossom in a sweet bouquet. 

Blue blooms are not as common as pink, white, or yellow flowers, but they are so lovely.

Here's Hoping

Weed or Flower?

Incredible Beauty

My friend, Wendy, posed a question on Facebook last week. "What part of nature reminds you that you're cared for [by God]?" I sent back my reply after a few minutes.

Truth be told, most everything about nature reminds me of how much God loves me.  I sit on my back porch and see how he takes care of the birds, such amazing, aerodynamic, little creatures. In the woods, I see the trees that tower over me. I admire their photosynthetic system that guides them through the seasons. At the beach I watch the tide roll in and out due to the gravitational pull from the sun and moon. I could go on because so much of our amazing earth, the place God created for us to live, reminds me how much God cares.

So what part of nature reminds me how much God is concerned about me? 

Flowers and butterflies. 

I could watch butterflies all day, as they flit from lavender to roses to daisies. When flowers spring from the ground, I can't wait to see them grow and bloom. 

Both have an incredible beauty for which only God could be responsible. Both depend on each other. Both rely on other parts of creation, like rain and sun. Both bring me peace. When I see a butterfly in the flowers, I feel like I've found a treasure.

Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?"And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these." -Matthew 6:27-29

How about you? What part of nature reminds you that you are cared for? 

crooked-stemmed asters

What I Found Along the Trail

nature's bouquet

autumn's color-

God's gift

©Penny Frost McGinnis

They are Sunshine

©Penny Frost McGinnis

Happy Hollyhocks

Does anyone else remember playing dolls with hollyhock blossoms? My Aunt Rosetta grew them in her yard. When I saw all the hollyhocks blooming in Marblehead last week, sweet memories drifted through my mind. Hollyhocks equal a happy heart.