Heirloombulbgirl

Tag: Spider Lily

  • The Flex of the Tropical Spider Lily

    If Tropical Spider Lilies could speak, there would be a lot of flexing going on with the other flowers in the garden….

    ”Really? Is that all you got?”

    ”You know what they say about bulbs with big blooms…”

    ”I remember blooming like that when I was just a wee baby bulb.”

    ”Oh, how sweet. You decided to bloom a cute little flower.”

    Come to think of it, even gardeners with Tropical Spiders flex among other gardeners. Take, for instance, my family friend “Bonnie” (name possibly changed to keep her bulbs safe from bulb diggers like myself). I received a private message the other day with a “Look what I have blooming.” Basically, an “in your face!” picture of a magnificent clump of White Spiders.

    “Where did you get those lilies?!”

    “You gave them to me.”

    ”Well, I want them back. I’m coming right over to dig them up!”
    Too bad she lives 3 hours away. She knew her bulbs were safe. I could hear her little chuckles through the typed words of her messages. I bet my Mother put her up to this….

    My Tropical White Spiders bloomed about a week after the infamous flexing message. Then my phone broke, which was probably a result of the bad words I had considered using when my Spiders had STILL had not bloomed.

    So I gave them a hefting watering. Twice. Then magically, just like that, my Tropical White Spider Lilies bloomed.

    If my phone hadn’t lost all my contacts, my little garden flexes to Bonnie would have been rampant.

    ”Mine are bigger than yours.”

    ”Here’s what a *real* Spider Lily looks like!”

    (And my favorite) “Anything yours can do, mine can do better” sung in the style of the old musical Annie Get Your Gun.

    Every now and then, some flowers in the garden simply stand out among the other peasant plants. Tropical White Spiders just demand your full attention. The blooms are large, captivating and completely over the top gorgeous. A perfect flower for a little playful banter with your friends, and a little flex among the other garden flowers….if only Tropical Spider Lilies could speak.

    Happy Gardening, my friends!
    Love, Keenan @Heirloombulbgirl

    ””

  • The Superpower of Bulbs. Finding Faith by “Dodging Death by Dormancy”

    Here we are, sweating hot and grumbling in 105 degree summer heat, and the Crinum be like “Nope. Not havin’ it. I’m going back to sleep.”
    I want to have that superpower….the ability to simply remove myself from heated situations or troublesome times. I want to magically take myself out of a hot environment, cool off and simply wait for some rain to bloom beyond anything else in the garden. What an incredible superpower to have!

    Crinum are indeed a special bulb. Most of the hot summer, they sway back and forth between a green clump with a gorgeous lily, and a haggard-looking pile of death. Last summer, during the drought, the Crinum looked like they were all at death’s door, merely stubs of crispy brown remnants of foliage. Ah, but they weren’t dead at all. Not even close. The Crinum were just saving their strength and resting in the cool of their little sanctuary below the ground. Dodging death with an incredible ability to remove themselves from the heat and just wait for their perfect opportunity to re-emerge with a boom.

    There are many bulbs that sleep quietly and hide out underground during their dormant seasons. I find this attribute utterly fascinating. For instance, how does a bulb determine it’s specific season to grow and bloom? How does an Oxblood Lily or Spider Lily not get fooled by the summer rain, only to wait quietly and bloom like no other in the first downpour of the Fall? The mere fact that flower bulbs have unwavering fortitude to wait in the hard seasons, blooming beautifully when the rain comes is nothing short of the description of faith….the ability to believe in things that are not seen, hoping for things beyond their circumstances.

    Crinum are my summer reminders of faith. Crinum give me hope through the heated struggle of gardening in a Texas summer, when everything appears to die before my eyes. When times are tough, Crinum simply retreat to their quiet place….a sanctuary. They are restored, renewed and recharged. Crinum don’t fight their circumstances with yelling, screaming, debating or grumbling. Crinum simply find their quiet place, believing beyond the 105 degree weather that “this too shall pass.” The weather *will* cool off, the rain *will* come and the beautiful Crinum *will* share its bloom again….believing in things not yet seen, hoping for things beyond their circumstances. I need flower bulbs like Crinum to remind me where my true source of power is….not in myself, or a perfect environment, with perfect people in a perfect world. On the contrary, my superpower is my faith in Him, Who created it all….seasons of great beauty and seasons of wait. I rest in the quiet of the sanctuary of the Lord, fully knowing that He is the true power source of all…even the little Crinum.

    ”O God.

    You are my God;

    Early will I seek You;

    My soul thirsts for You;

    My flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.

    So I have looked for You in the sanctuary;

    To see Your power and Your glory.” -Psalms 63:1-2

    It is another hot summer afternoon. The garden is showing off it’s many shades of crispy brown foliage, but the Crinum are all in wait…..their season is coming. Remember, your Heirloom Bulbs aren’t dead….they are simply cooling off below the earth, dodging death by dormancy. 🙂

    Happy Gardening, my friends! Love, Keenan @heirloombulbgirl