A Gentle Reminder From The Geraniums

 Cades Cove - Great Smoky Mountains National Park

August 14, 2014 

I am no gardener!  I absolutely LOVE flowers and want my house/yard filled with them, but I want someone else to take care of them.  It just isn’t something I enjoy.  (I feel the same way about cooking!  LOL!)  Thankfully, I am married to someone who does.  Tending to our flowers gives Bill great joy and he is very committed to the task.  He was rushed this morning as he left for school and didn’t feel his best either, so he asked if I would prune and water the geraniums.  In the cool of the morning as I did just that, the geraniums thanked me by their beauty and reminded me of two things I needed to internalize!

The Geraniums on April 20, 2014 shortly after we bought them!

The Geraniums on September 2, 2014 after SIGNIFICANT pruning!

I'm no photographer either and wish I'd taken pictures before I did the pruning, but I hope you can see the amount of overall growth PLUS the huge number of blooms waiting to burst forth.  Two things came to mind:

                                                          

1)   Growth requires pruning.  In order for a steady rate of overall growth to occur,   the dying/dead/past their prime flowers have to go.

2)    In the right place, under the right conditions, these geraniums will continue to flourish. 

We’ve always enjoyed geraniums in the summer, but these have been stronger and more beautiful than any we ever had in the fifteen years we lived at our other house. We can only conclude that they are now in a location more conducive to perfect growth conditions for geraniums. 

You can draw your own conclusions from this silly analogy.  I feel as if I’ve been “pruned” to death over the last year, but in retrospect, can see how beneficial it has been.  In spite of the painful pruning, overall growth has occurred and WOW, can I ever see all sorts of new blooms just waiting to burst forth.  I must be in the right place and at the right time.  I can’t wait to see what’s in store.

August flew by in a haze of heat and humidity here in East Tennessee.  I did manage one perfect day at a lovely spot by the river in Cades Cove.  It was one of the first days after Bill returned to school and I spent it reading, reflecting and pondering.  It was a very good day indeed!

 A little river gazing..............

 A little lunch...............

 A little reading.........

Rest assured there are many more days like this one coming up.

I am so excited!  I just confirmed a Blogger friend meetup for Thursday and have my first solo roadtrip in over a year planned for later this month (also with a now IRL friend I met through this blog)!  You'll be hearing plenty about both these adventures.

Have you been "pruned" lately?  I'd love to hear about it.