It’s Friday Five time at RevGalBlogPals! Today’s question is what flora do I look forward to each season.

I didn’t grow up with perennial gardens; my father was in the air force and we moved around every few years, military housing yards didn’t usually include perennials. And so tending flowering shrubs etc. wasn’t something to which I was accustomed. When I was ordained and moved into my first manse, there were flower beds all around it and I had NO idea what to do with any of it. Thank goodness for parishioners who loved gardening!

A new call and a few years of apartment living and I was quite content with annuals on the balcony. Then a new husband and new house, one without any landscaping.  The second summer we were there, we hired someone to help us design and plant several beds. We weren’t happy with the results. I spent the next summer rearranging and replanting almost everything.

A few years ago I planted hyacinth bulbs in the fall, I was SO excited the next spring when they actually came up!

Hyacinth

I have since planted crocus, so look for those early on.

Crocus

Flowering quince are amazing! They were on the property already and I keep meaning to propagate them, but each spring seems so busy that I never get around to it.

Flowering Quince

Coneflower

Sedum

Bonus flower: My favourite of all is the lilac!

I have lots of spring and fall pictures, but few from the middle of summer! I must be too busy weeding/mulching etc. As you can tell from these photos, my gardens consist almost entirely of pink and purple blooms.

Perennials are like miracles to me. Each year, no matter how dead the beds appear, there is magic going on below the surface. It reminds me of a ling from the hymn ‘In the Bulb by Natalie Sleeth, “Unrevealed until its season, something God along can see.”