Salad Days

     Tiny green sprouts appeared almost immediately. I was thrilled! How hard could gardening be? Yet over the weeks to follow the tender stalks browned, withered and died. New to the world of gardening, I started researching. Apparently the water in Texas can be hard on hydroponic gardens. I replaced my tap water with distilled and so far I am back in business. My petite lettuce is coming along nicely as I write. Gardening is both a simple and complex pursuit. Simple in its goal, but it can be complex in execution. Here's are three cold spring lessons: water, location and patience.

     To the novice, watering appears to be the cornerstone of gardening. Yet in the same way that people can over eat or under eat, plants need a balanced water intake. My succulents are relieved that I have begun admiring them rather than over watering. The same can be said of the ivys on the porch; they simply don't require the same water as my sun loving friends.
     Location is not just for real estate. If you put sunny friends in the shade they will not flourish. Shady plants will collapse under the direct gaze of the sun. It doesn't matter how great I think the plants look in a certain location. Location has to be tailored to needs. When the temperature drops into the the 30s F my friends need to come indoors. My kitchen has become a nighttime greenhouse.

     Patience and selection are  crucial lessons for the green gardener. My daydreams overflow with flowering baskets, blossoming fruit trees, vinca, petunias and perfumed roses, dianthus, ranúnculos and herbs. Choosing the right plant for the right season is a key to gardening success. Nurseries are currently stocked with transitional favorites.

But it's not their time. Instead I have been choosing hardier candidates: violas, pansies,

     Lessons from the garden easily transfer to life outside the garden. If I garden with metaphors, Maybe I can live with more grace. The right amount of water is a metaphor for balance. Location is a good fit for the question, "Where do I best fit?" Patience and selection in the garden parallel the choices I make each day. Do I take time for discernment when making a decision? Do I choose companions that encourage the best version of myself? I often rush into things without doing  research or reflection. Gardening with metaphors can infuse my ordinary life with extraordinary grace, if I simply allow the space in my spirit.
     In Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra spoke of her youthful, immature decisions as her salad days. I used to think growing lettuce was a simple task. It is simple with the right environment, nutrients and light. Growing the soul is like growing lettuce. The right tools support the highest growth. The Talmud says, "Each blade of grass has an angel that stands over it whispering, grow, grow." If angels guard blades of grass, gardeners are equally precious.