grace grits and gardening

ramblings from an arkansas farm girl

  • Home
  • About
  • Media
  • Crafts
  • Farm
  • Food
  • Garden
  • Reading & Books
  • Sunday Letter
  • SHOP!
  • Privacy Policy

Blowin’ in the wuthering wind

May 18, 2017 By Talya Tate Boerner 2 Comments

Airmail snapdragons

Yesterday was breezy. But today? The wuthering wind is blowing and roaring almost as though it twists from the ground up, a reminder of how sturdy trees really are. And the flowers pictured in this post? They are the wind’s answer to spring.

I call them my airmail flowers. Airmail because these flowers were planted old school. As nature intended. Seeds were scattered by the wind, probably on a day declared TOO WINDY by moi on Facebook. Probably followed by a rainstorm that woke me during the night. Probably followed by a soggy day when Lucy and Annabelle refused to go outside.

Probably.

Mother Nature does a good job when left to her own devices.

Definitely.

Last year, I planted a few snapdragons in the pots along either side of our front porch. This spring, those pots are filled with other flowers. Not a snapdragon one. It’s as though they jumped out and relocated to their preferred place in the flower beds. The snapdragon below (top right) appears to be growing through the bricks, but it isn’t. It was growing from beneath a flowerpot of gerber daisies that I moved out of the direct sun. So far it’s a baby snapdragon growing with very little soil. (I may move him to a safer place. One with actual nutrients…)

Airmail Flowers

We also have little volunteer violas and pansies growing everywhere. They, too, started in a pot on the front porch, and two years ago a row of them bordered our front bed. Now they grow in clumps in the backyard and all over the lawn. Mow them down, they pop right back up. Maybe they will take over our grass in survival of the fittest fashion.

Violas and pansies

All these carefree, grow-where-you-like airmail flowers remind me that sometimes the best things are the simple, natural ones—the ideas that come first, the paths that appear over and over again, quiet times we often try to fill with busyness. Yesterday I stopped in the road to watch a Momma duck cross the road with two ducklings. It was the sweetest thing, the way she urged them along, but not in a hurry as another car queued up behind me. And then another. As wildlife unfolded right in front of me, I felt fortunate to have been in that spot at that time. Fortunate to sit there in my car watching these creatures go about their day, doing what comes natural to them, ruling the road without knowing it.

Or maybe they did.

I can’t help but wonder about all the seeds the wuthering wind is magically scattering today. A gust bringing flowers for summer. Or maybe next spring’s seeds dropped in the smallest of cracks between the stone walkway where I couldn’t grow anything if I tried.

Sedum growing between stone walkway

A couple of blocks away, gorgeous Hollyhock grows at the historic Headquarters House. I wouldn’t be upset if the wind delivered a few of those seeds my way.

Hint, hint Mr. Wind, hint, hint.

Hollyhocks

Grace Grits and Gardening
Farm. Food. Garden. Life.

P.S. Happy Birthday to my youngest! Tate is 24 today. My heart is full.

Tate turns 24!

[tweetthis]There’s a dose of magic in the wuthering wind. Check out my airmail #flowers in #mygardentoday [/tweetthis]

Musical Pairing:
Bob Dylan, Keith Richards, Ron Wood, Blowin’ in the Wind

 

 

Filed Under: Gardening, Nature & Seasons Tagged With: nature, spring gardening, volunteer flowers

Wanna receive my monthly Newsletter? Sign up here!

Comments

  1. Dorothy Johnson says

    May 19, 2017 at 8:55 am

    Amazing what wind and a welcoming environment can produce. Loved seeing them and you in person last week!

    Reply
    • Talya Tate Boerner says

      May 20, 2017 at 6:52 am

      Me too, Dorothy! Too quick of a trip though:(

      Reply

COMMENT: Cancel reply

Talya Tate Boerner


Hi! I'm Talya. Writer, Reader, Arkansas Master Naturalist / Master Gardener, Author of

THE ACCIDENTAL SALVATION OF GRACIE LEE (2016)

GENE, EVERYWHERE: a life-changing visit from my father-in-law (2020)

BERNICE RUNS AWAY (Now Available!)

Click to BUY NOW!

Talya Tate Boerner books
Gene, Everywhere

Never miss a blog post! Subscribe via email:

Receive my Monthly Newsletter?

Most Popular Posts…

  • Chicken Tortilla Soup
  • SHOP!
  • Yum Yum Cake - old southern recipe!
  • Nana's Strawberry Cake (the real one)
  • Sunday Letter: 01.29.23

Most Recent

  • Chicken Tortilla Soup
  • Sunday Letter: 01.29.23
  • Sunday Letter: 01.15.23
  • Sunday Letter: 01.08.23
  • Sunday Letter: 12.18.22

Grace Grits index

Prior Posts

Search Categories

Tags

A to Z April Blog Challenge Autumn BAT Book Reviews childhood Christmas creative writing prompt Dallas Desserts Eureka Springs Fall Fayetteville Food Gracie Lee Halloween Hemingway-Pfeiffer home humor Johnson Family Keiser Lake Norfork Lucy and Annabelle Mississippi County Mississippi Delta moving Munger Place Nana nature Northeast Arkansas Northwest Arkansas Osceola poem Reading Schnauzer simple living simple things spring spring gardening Summer sunday letter Talya Tate Boerner novel The Accidental Salvation of Gracie Lee Thomas Tate Winter Wordless Wednesday
Follow on Bloglovin

Food. Farm. Garden. Life.

THANKS FOR READING!

All content and photos Copyright Grace, Grits and Gardening © 2023 · Web Hosting By StrataByte