Getting Ready to Bloom

I plant a garden each year.  Each year, I plant WAY too much stuff and WAY too close together.  The main farmer at our house will help me baby my small patch of land.  We spend hours watering...pulling weeds...Miracle Growing once a week.  The weeds...they have been growing like crazy...and you don't even have to baby them!  And then BAM!  When things begin to pick up for the school year, it is harvest time.  In the past weeks, I have canned pickle relish, peach salsa, peach jam, and just plain ol' peaches.  I have also froze bags upon bags of green peppers, jalapenos, green beans, peas, and zucchini.  And that is just the beginning...tomatoes are not even close to being ready.

There is the buzz about everyone harvesting vegetables from their garden, but there is also a buzz about a special type of flower in two major US cities.  Did you know that there is a plant called the corpse flower that you can watch on a live stream in DC and one New York?  The corpse flower requires 7 to 10 years of growth before blooming for the first time.  Once it blooms, it begins to die after about 12 hours, but some plants have been know to remain for up to 48 hours.  After that initial bloom, blooms only occur between every 3-10 years. So...honestly...it is a pretty big deal.  And did I mention that when it blooms it smells like rotting flesh?  Hence the name.  Here is a picture of a bloomed corpse flower:

If you are up at night and have nothing to do, here is the link to the live camera at the New York Botanical Gardens.  Maybe you can see it bloom live!

If you don't have time for that, here is video of the last bloom of the corpse flower at Chicago Botanic Gardens.

So to my point...and I really do have a point...

It is the time of the year when packets of seeds are going to be handed to us.  We must care for them.  We must nurture them.  We must inspire them.  We must do what it takes to see them grow (unfortunately for us, they don't come with a care guide!).  We often just wait.  Wait and wait for them to bloom.  And for some...when they do...it is a GREAT event!  It may be short lived...that bloom may only last a few days and it may not occur every day or every month or even every year, but what a glorious event for us AND them when it happens!

As we begin the year:  Don't give up on them (or yourself)!  It may take some a little longer to bloom than others.  Find the beauty in the process and the results that come from a little hard work and care.

I wish you the best as we begin another year.  I value you all and what you give to your profession.