05.03.2024 | Friday in Eastertide

It's a cloudy, wet morning here in the Carondelet Garden in lovely South Saint Louis.  The clouds will be sticking around all day with light and variable winds.  A bit of a drowsy Friday to be sure.

The garden is in pretty good shape for the beginning of May. The peppers were planted this week so we should be seeing a nice flush coming soon.  The wonder of this week was the blooming of my Oriental Poppy!  Oriental Poppies (Papaver Orientale) are herbaceous perennial flowers (dies back to the ground then reemerges) with large, brightly colored papery petals. The foliage is furry, and thistle-like which adds a lovely textural element.  We fell in love with these plants after seeing them at @mobogarden on a visit last year.  This is our second year but our first bloom.  Such a lovely addition to the Parterre Garden and a good diversion from the onslaught of bad news.

There is so much upset and anger around right now.  I am striving to discover what spiritual sanity means to me right now.  Whatever changes around us should not change our best intentions and must not corrupt our best selves.  We are not expected to leave society but to live it in a new way that can survive and thrive.  

I am seeking the simple wholeness of my true self.  The self that dwells deep within in me already and sometimes overlooked until the well runs almost completely dry.  I'm working on that self that works under pressure.  That is what my heart is seeking right now.  There is so much going on and so many anxieties and worries but there is always the call of the garden to come away, rest a bit, enjoy a cup of tea and let your worries rest awhile.  

Now is the time of faith, a time for hope, and the ever-growing need to share a bit of love.  Share some love with yourself, your neighbor, the person checking your groceries at the supermarket, even that grumbly guy who never seems to smile.  It's a good day for a good day.  That's all the news from here in the Carondelet Garden.