Monday, October 26, 2020

Grape Hyacinths and Daffodils - In before the Storm

The grape hyacinth has a pleasant sweet fragrance and multiplies on its own.
The flowers push their way up in early spring.

We made numerous attempts to plant all the bulbs. Ordering them is so much easier than planting in dry clay soil. I knew enough to water for two hours the day before digging, but that hardly registered.

It took four two-man digging teams to get them in, and I happily gave some extras to Digger. He has been absorbing leftover plants, and now their yard boasts - roses, crepe myrtle, wild ginger, and daffodils. I enjoy having extra roses to give away with the rainbow clearance sales in June.

As I wrote before, planting true bulbs is the same as planting flowers. That flower is already there, ready to emerge in the earliest part of spring. Bulbs slowly grow and divide, so the early investment will yield dividends until they are too crowded to bloom well.

I weighed the bag to estimate what was left. The weather was getting very chilly and a week of rain was posted on the weather maps. Saturday morning was quite cold, and it was our last chance. The temperature warmed up perfect for digging, and Digger came over to plant. That was really exhilarating, to see the bag become empty, save for the bonus for our friends. They had their original dozen bulbs in the ground already.

The rain has started, ideal for settling the soil and waking up the bulbs. They will form their roots and even grow to the surface, only to become dormant for the right weather in spring. They bloom when bugs are few, sunshine is abundant, and rain helps them build bulb power for the next year. Many expensive bulbs (tulips, true hyacinths) diminish in time. Many bulbs and corms are delicious to wildlife. Daffodils are not tempting, so they have all the virtues and none of the setbacks.

Nothing in Creation is so intricate as the timing of all the calendar events involving microbes, soil creatures, roots, plants, trees, insects, and birds. 

One church building committee, heavy with engineers and chemists, did not want the carpet in the new part glued to the floor. That was viewed with alarm, so the rug layers took back the glue and tacked the carpet down for the very large room.

The upright piano was pushed into the room later, for Sunday School and choir rehearsal. The result was epic, an enormous expanse of carpet wrinkled and wavy, a sight to make the stomach sink. So are the ways of the great and wise. 

In contrast, everything in God's Creation is so organized and involved that each form of life has a purpose and a schedule. 

Given the revelation that God's will is only accomplished through God's Word, it should motivate everyone to employ God's Word rather than the schemes of carnival barkers at Fuller, Willow Creek, Groeschel-land, and Stanley Steamer.


"This anointed program will pay for itself. Why there was a congregation in Schnitzville that bought into this and was blessed by the Lord many times over."