From A to Z

I'm on a writing retreat the day after the first frost. Yesterday, the retreat manager cut all the blooming flowers and put them in the kitchen sink. She was going to put bouquets of ageratum and zinnias in each bedroom, but first she had to make 30 beds. Needless to say, the beds got made but the bouquets did not. So the flowers remain in the kitchen sink.

Ah, yes. We have too many things to do on our to-do list. One writer friend said she had planned to do four things yesterday, but only accomplished two.

So, there's the stress. The mind says one thing; the body says another. Which one are you going to believe?

The mind wants A through Z (ageratum through zinnia). The mind wants the whole kitchen sink. The body just can't do it.

The mind thinks it is the boss and has a conniption fit when the body-slave doesn't jump to its command.

Listen to the body. Slow down. Enjoy the zero stress of ageratum and zinnias just standing in the kitchen sink and looking beautiful.

Perennial Ageratum

My local garden group, Perennial Swappers, toured my fall garden this evening. It's the last swap and tour of the season. Hard to believe, since it was 85 degrees today.

I still have lots of color in my garden. In addition to purple asters, white sanguisorba, and pink turtlehead (chelone), i have lots of perennial ageratum giving a sweep of color to several flowerbeds.

My Hoosier cousin, Jeana, gave me a single start of this ageratum a few years ago. Thanks to her generosity, i share big clumps of this ageratum with five or six of my friends every September.

Generosity is one of the foundations of gardening. I give plants to people. People give plants to me. This evening Ruth brought me a double white trillium.

Generosity is one of the foundations of our spiritual practice. Let go. Give.

Perennial Ageratum

Several years ago, my cousin Jeana in Indiana gave me some perennial ageratum from her garden. They are about a foot tall, taller than the annual variety. And they are blooming now.

I have a fall garden, and these ageratums are a welcome addition of color in my flowerbeds. They perfectly match a short aster in one of bed, so i've put them close together. A yellow mum from last year actually survived! Luckily it is growing near another clump of ageratum. Nice color combination!

Today i am visiting a new hospice client because her usual volunteer is away for a couple of weeks. The hospice coordinator tells me this 92-year-old woman is taking her failing body in stride. A couple of months ago, she was found on the floor where she'd been for 28 hours. When asked why she didn't use the Lifeline hanging around her neck, she said that she didn't want to bother anyone.

A person like this, who doesn't complain, who appears calm despite her failing body, this is what i call blooming in the autumn of life. An ageratum in disguise.

Ageratum Spreads

A few years ago, my Hoosier cousin gave me some seeds from her perennial ageratum, which she considered a weed in her tomato patch.

Now those few plants are a solid mass of blooming blue, about 4 feet long and 2 feet wide. This zone 6 ageratum is a spreader all right. I'm transplanting it out of the nursery bed and into various flower beds. The farther away from the house, the bigger the clumps of flowers. And i have one hillside in which i am happy to let the spreaders spread (bee balm, phlox, gooseneck loosestrife, etc.)

What spreads and takes over our life? Children? Work? Facebook? Or other social media?

Perhaps we are content to be extending compassionate care to children or aging parents. That's just the way life is right now. But sometimes, busy-ness spreads all over our life, and it's time to move those responsibilities somewhere else, onto someone else.

Take a close look at how busy-ness spreads. What one thing can you let go of today?

Photos from fitchburgcemetery.com and nycgardens.blogspot.com