I have a great hope of a day when I have a yard with flowers and plants that can be enjoyed regularly and maybe even mulch that is put down at the correct time of the year but until then I will celebrate when I have a few living flowers in pots or keep the grass alive another summer or the clay dirt is not too exposed in the flowerbeds. 

This past spring my mom was helping me re-pot some flowers that we had hoped might survive another season and shared with excitement that she had picked up some sunflower seeds and that “WE” should plant them at my house.  This “WE” in our family normally means one of us has a great idea and all of us are going to “get the opportunity to” participate in some form.  So off we go, right that moment to the back yard and size up a good spot for our seeds to be planted.   The encouraging part to me was as my sister read the package that these seeds needed bright sun but that actually thrive in bad dirt.  Good thing because I believe that any beneficial top soil was scraped off my lot long before my house was complete and I have some mighty fine packed clay to work with in this little yard.

We proceeded to plant our little handful of sunflower seeds along a flower bed I had started to prep a few years ago.  Like I said we have some fine clay underneath that thin layer of mulch but needless to say we planted our seeds and hoped for the best.  I did my best to remember to water them and watch for how they were doing and sure enough after a few weeks, we had a few sprouts and then those sprouts began to grow.  It has been fun to watch this out my back window and see as I go and come each day from work.  When the weather has brought heavy rain and even hail a few weeks ago, I was quick to check and see how our sunflowers were handling it.  A few leaves and one of the stalks did show some damage but the main stem was still strong and growing.

This little plant has been a great reminder of all the lessons we can learn through a garden – even a garden of just a couple of sunflowers.  This plant didn’t require good soil – it makes the most of where it is planted.  It weathers the storms that come it’s way.  It needs nurturing, water, sun and a bit of tending but no matter what how much help it gets from those things, it still kept growing.

This weekend it was fun to wake up and see the first peak of yellow pop through.  I don’t know how many flowers we may get this summer but this one bud beginning to open has been a treat and blessing to watch.  I am reminded of how it started from a simple seed in the dirt.  If you haven’t had a chance to read the book Cultivate by Lara Casey, she makes a great parallel to our lives about how Good things grow in the dirt and It is OK to Grow Slow and my favorite – Little by Little progress will add up. So as I continue to watch the slow and steady progress of this beautiful flower, I will remember the other progress I am working on in goals related to health, projects around the house, work assignments, etc and remember that the little bits of growth and progress can turn into something very beautiful in just the right time.