I was concerned that we would have drenching rains for five days but relatively few bulbs in the ground to get started. Instead we just a had a good rain followed by the Daffodils I was expecting.
Since we have clay soil, which is great for everything except digging, I am happy to have some softened soil ready for bulbs. Grape Hyacinths of various colors will be the top layer of Daffodil drifts. Grape Hyacinths can cost as little as a dime each. I found one Daffodil bulb for $100 from a specialty company, but I was not moved to buy it. Besides, that was long ago, when $100 bought a lot more than now.
I plan on having more of the specialty Daffodils in the front yard with the traditional ones in the back. Yes, I want to show off the strange permutations, which can include orange highlights, orange cups, multiple cups, very large sizes and so forth. Green Daffodil flowers do not intrigue me, but they are promoted too.
Everyone feels a bit mopey when winter lingers and the spring is damp, drippy, and cold, with few sunny days. That is when I add a few more rose bushes to replace the lost ones. And I gloat over the bulbs finishing their growth with the flowers already formed and ready to show off.
Nobody bothers the Little Red Hen gardener when digging holes in the hardened dry clay of a drought-plagued autumn. They shake their heads when the garden gets hours of sprinkling to make the digging possible, keeping the roses alive.
We had a cloudburst where a neighbor said, "Too bad the rain came down so hard and went right into the street." I said, "Not in my yard. Mulch absorbs the rain and holds it. Deep-rooted plants channel the rain deep into the soil. I even demonstrate this for myself every so often. I pour five gallons of water on a Joe Pye Weed and the water disappears as if it were a drain for Springdale Water and Sanitation. No run off."
I seldom talk about the vast biosphere in the soil itself - the oceans of life alive from the water and various minerals, doing their work and keeping moisture/minerals/carbon in the root zone. Overdoing the botany lesson is obvious in the glazed eyes of the listener.
Flowers are a delight, and they are clearly designed by the Creator to bring happiness and introspection to everyone, while carrying out the duties assigned to them.
I do not see freedom of the will as a great conundrum. If God had not given Adam and Eve freedom of the will to disobey Him, we would all be like ants, birds, bacteria, rabbits, and hawks. We would do exactly what the divine software installed in us determined and never question the hours of work, the brevity or narrowness of life.
And because of our fallen nature, we need and have a Savior, the Lord of Creation.
