Amaryllis Blooming

At home, my amaryllis are just starting to bloom. In the gardens at the University of Florida, amaryllis are blooming full-blast.

Notice how close the stems are to each other. That means the bulbs are packed together tightly, sort of like daffodil bulbs for us in the North Country.

It looks like the closely packed bulbs encourage each other to bloom. If we stay in close touch with our Dharma friends and a Dharma teacher or two, they encourage us to bloom in the Dharma.

Doubting Tulips

 I ordered tulips last month--not to plant in the ground. When i don't know [fill-in-the-blank], i come to a complete halt. Doubt assails me.

Where would i plant tulips? Where could i plant tulips? I have no idea. I do not know.

It's interesting to realize that my obstacle is doubt. Previously i would have called it procrastination, but that carries a judgment. My bad, which pretty soon feels like i'm bad for not planting tulips.

But doubt is a different mind quality. Doubt is a worthy opponent. I watch its characteristics. I-don't-know mind  stops me in my tracks. 

Knowing the ways of the I-don't-know mind, i can predict when doubt will show up, and i can guess what will come next. In my case, it's dullness. One obstacle gives rise to another. If this happens in meditation, i doze off. If it happens in the garden, i forget the tulip bulbs.

But i've figured out a way around doubt. My work-around is to plant the tulips in pots and winter them over in the garage. I'll decide where to plant them next spring.

Tulip Surprise

Tulips surprise me every year. I buy them half price after Thanksgiving and force them in pots in the garage. By early March, their green shoots poke up out of the dirt, and I bring them indoors to warm up. As soon as one blooms, I take it and its pot full of sister tulips outdoors to the front step. Soon, a dozen pots of tulips decorate the front door.

Left in the refrigerator of outdoors, the potted tulips bloom for about three weeks, though this year, they held their color for nearly six weeks. Then I dig a hole in a flowerbed and plop the spent tulips into it.

A year later, a few tulips survive and surprise me. The chipmunks did not eat the tulip bulbs. It feels like a miracle, and I am grateful.

Tulips in Flowerpots

In December, i planted tulip bulbs in flowerpots and set them in the garage. Now, they are six inches tall, so i'm bringing some inside to hurry up their blooms. The others are sitting in the waiting room of the front step.

Some of us bloom early, some late. Some of us zoom through school and hurry into adulthood. Some of us lag behind. Some careers take off, and some don't. Some bodies die faster than others.

Patience is the name of the game. Trust that Life (or whatever you may call it) is taking care of us.

Even the outdoor tulips will bloom eventually.

Undone Projects

It has snowed 3 times in the past week--all before Thanksgiving. I keep thinking, Oh, it will melt, but temperatures here are dropping into the teens. The ground will freeze, and that's the definite end of gardening season.

Oh, the projects left undone. Things not put away. Stalks and stems not cut down. Bulbs not planted. Sigh.

We thought we had a future, but the future turns out differently than we expected. The future was a figment of our imagination. And now we are disappointed that reality doesn't match imagination?

The future is always in the imagination. The future is only in the imagination.

We live and breathe in the present moment, and every new moment is a surprise.

Half-Price Tulips

I succumbed. I bought 2 packages of tulip bulbs at the hardware store. Usually, i don't buy bulbs until they go on sale for half price after Thanksgiving. After all, the chipmunks are going to eat the bulbs, so how much do i want to pay for chipmunk food?

But the bags of bulbs at the hardware store were already half the usual price i pay for bulbs. Yes, i know. Bulbs at the hardware store are likely to be second-class, second-rate bulbs. Small bulbs, not full-size. Well, the chipmunks won't care. And i do like the colors--a blend of pink-and-white bulbs.

So i feel good; i feel happy about buying the bulbs. And i feel unhappy as i tell myself i "shouldn't" have done that. At least, not yet.

This is one daily example of the civil war of the mind. Yes-No. Good-Bad. Should-Shouldn't. Now-Later.

Then there's the second-guessing. Let it go, Cheryl. The bulbs have been paid for. You are happy about that. You are just unhappy with your mind. Going back and forth between should and shouldn't is useless. Really useless.

Plant the blooming bulbs and be done with it. Let the bulbs and yourself rest.

Not Chipmunk Food

I love the delicate pink Lycoris (aka Naked Ladies or Surprise Lily) because it looks like a lily (even though it isn't one) and, most importantly, the chipmunks don't eat the bulbs.

Oh, those darn (but cute) chipmunks. They love to eat lily bulbs (and tulip bulbs).

You know that definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.

So i finally stopped planting lily bulbs. Instead I plant stressless Lycoris.

Tulip Bulbs in the Dark

Post-Thanksgiving, tulip bulbs are on sale, 50% off. I buy 50 bulbs, pot them up into 10 flowerpots, and next week do the same thing. My garage has 4 rows of pots sitting on the floor between the car and the truck, waiting for spring equinox when they can come out of hiding.

The tulip bulbs are buried in the darkness of the soil. December 7 is the earliest sunset of the year, at 4:16 p.m. Oh, the night seems long when darkness begins in late afternoon.

It's time for us to gestate, meditate, contemplate the dark. We can't see clearly in the dark, but we can feel. Feel the closeness, the surround, perhaps the coolness. Float in the dark of not-knowing, trusting that eventually the light returns.

100 Hyacinth Bulbs

I ordered 100 hyacinth bulbs since i couldn't find them at my local sources. A hundred bulbs! What was i thinking?

Maybe i wasn't thinking. I was simply craving. I do have quite a collection of forcing vases. I've tucked 60 vases, with hyacinth bulbs suspended over water, into a corner of the basement.

That left 40 bulbs in the bag, so yesterday, i potted them up--8 pots with five bulbs in each one. Now those pots are living in the garage until March.

I'm hoping i have 60 friends to whom i can give the blooming hyacinths.

Forcing Paperwhites

Yesterday, i gave a gardening talk on forcing holiday bulbs--paperwhites, amaryllis, hyacinths, and tulips. I brought bulbs and vases so people could create their own containers and take them home. Even though we are full-grown, mature adults, it's still fun to come home from class with something we've created.

I had some leftover bulbs, so i created my own containers of paperwhites this morning and set them on a cool windowsill.

I may think i am creating something, but really i am simply taking raw materials and putting them together. Bulbs, vases, marble chips--all come from the earth. The glass vase is make of the element silica; the marble chips are a form of calcium; the bulbs are a softer form of elements.

And every bit of it recycled and recycling. The bulbs will go into the compost in January, to become dirt by spring. I keep using the same marble chips year after year, but they too will erode after some centuries. And the glass vase will break when it breaks.

All so temporary. All so beautiful.

Dividing Daffodils

My grandmother died 30 years ago, and, in her will, she gave each grandchild $600. I spent my entire inheritance on daffodil bulbs, so that, every year, on her birthday in early May, i can remember my Nonnie.

This year, i am really focusing on dividing clumps of bulbs and giving away my extras. I'm passing on my grandmother's legacy of spring flowers.

Joy in the blooming. Joy in the memory of my grandmother. Joy in the giving of flower bulbs.

Cool Tulips

My pots of tulips that i forced in the garage over the winter are blooming. Every day, i put them outside on the front step for a day of early spring temperatures, a bit of breeze, and a sprinkle. Every evening as temperatures drop below freezing, i bring a dozen pots indoors to spend the night in my mud room, which is a bit cooler than the rest of the house.

My pots of tulips are like silent pets. All this in-and-out, back-and-forth makes the tulips last for 3 weeks instead of 1 week. They like to be cool, and when they're hot, they shrug off their petals like we shrug off our sweaters when we get too warm.

When you get hot under the collar, how do you cool down? Breathe. And notice you are breathing. Take a 1-minute mini-meditation break. Notice the mood of the mind.

We don't meditate in order to chill. We meditate in order to notice the stress in our lives. We meditate to notice suffering. We don't have to do anything about it. The "doing" will happen on its own once we become aware of the sources of our suffering--news, work, relationships. We probably need less of those particular stressors in our lives.

Take a closer look. Go outdoors for a mindful walk and enjoy the cool spring breezes.

Glory of the Snow

I planted spring bulbs in pots and put them in the garage in early December. Three weeks ago, i began bringing pots into the house. The first to bloom is Glory of the Snow (Chionodoxa; chion = snow; doxa = glory).

I love these little bulbs. They multiply on their own and show up in unexpected places. And this hardy little flower likes it cool.

How do we grow ourselves in cool times? How do we flourish and multiply even when the climate is chilly?

First of all, we rely on our spiritual friends. Just like Glory of Snow, we thrive in a colony, even if we do prefer our solitude. In hard times, we can count on our spiritual friends to keep us from straying into the bushes.


photo by color line

The Squirrels Plant My Bulbs

I'm not too happy when the snowplow "transplants" some my perennials for me, but i rather enjoy it when those rascal squirrels and chipmunks transplant various bulbs.

Squill

Walking on a woodland path, i find cobalt blue squill. Now how did that get here? Near another path, I have a colony of the aptly named squirrel corn, a relative of Dutchmen's breeches. And how did that get there?
 

Squirrel Corn

I guess squirrels are gardeners too. I knew they planted acorns, and now i know they plant bulbs and wildflowers.

What are we planting today, this week in our minds and in our hearts?

You can't beat that perennial bloomer, mindfulness.

Too Late to Plant Bulbs

Yesterday, on the last above-freezing day, i finally put all my spring bulbs into the ground. People often ask me if it's too late to plant bulbs. "You can plant as long as the ground isn't frozen," i say.

Today the ground is frozen. Today it's too late to plant bulbs.

I planted most of my bulbs in pots, which are now hibernating in my garage. Next spring, when they bloom, i'll be able to pop them into the ground, exactly where i want them.

Now, with no more gardening projects hanging loose, i too can hibernate. For me, that means a tropical vacation with my sweetie, followed by a one-month self-retreat.

While our energy is dormant is a good time to go on retreat. Where and when are you going?

Forcing Bulbs for the Holidays

One month later: Blooms!

A month ago, i offered a mini-workshop on forcing bulbs for the holidays. I brought in a collection of vases along with some half-price bulbs, and a dozen of us spent an hour talking about paperwhites, hyacinths, and amaryllis.

Nancy, who was there, sent me a photo of her paperwhites, which are now blooming. The hyacinths will take longer.

The paperwhites are so rewarding. They are quick and easy. Sometimes our meditation is quick and easy. Sometimes, we, like the hyacinths, need some time to contemplate the winter of aging.

Take your meditation seat and simply notice what arises.

Hyacinth growing roots.

Planting Tulip Bulbs in Pots

I bought half-price tulip bulbs at the garden store, so today i've been potting them up. Due to critters, i now treat tulips as annuals. I'm willing to feed a chipmunk a 25-cent bulb, but i'm not willing to spend $1 per bulb to feed that cute little rodent.

When i was at the Swap Program at the landfill on Saturday morning, i picked up several biggish plastic flowerpots. I've bought a couple of bags of potting soil and some vermiculite. Mix, mix, mix. Then crowd 7 bulbs into each pot.

For the moment, the tulip-bulbs-in-pots are sitting on my front step, but after it rains, i'll move them into the garage for the winter.

Tulips are another exercise in impermanence. Still, i love to think about what my front step will look like next April.

Cutting Back Bulb Foliage

After 36 hours of rain, i waded into a few flowerbeds and came out soaking wet. I did something daring: i cut back bulb foliage (daffodils, hyacinths, and leucojum) while it is still green. I got tired of looking at all that strappy foliage lying down. There it is again: Every good thing (April-flowering bulbs) is accompanied by trouble (strappy foliage in June.)

The flowerbeds look so much better now that the old foliage has been cut down. I just hope this good thing (Ahhh! A cleaned-up flowerbed) isn't accompanied by trouble next spring (a paucity of flowers due to insufficient foliage).

Planting Tulips in the Snow

The ground isn't frozen, but it's covered with snow. I could plant bulbs, but i can't see where to put them.

I feel frustrated. I've been buying bulbs at half price. But now what?

I've resigned myself to planting tulips in pots because chipmunks and voles eat tulip bulbs. Since i am now thinking of tulips as an annual, i can make the effort if i want to have tulips in the spring. Now, i can see the easiest thing to do is to start the other bulbs in pots too. Then, in the spring, when everything else is blooming, i'll know exactly where to put them.

Oops. Do i have enough pots for this project?

Stress comes in many disguises: snow cover, bulb planting, potting bulbs, chipmunks and voles.

Despite it all, i am driven by the image of beautiful tulips sitting in pots on my front step. Eustress--the stress of happiness.

Tender Sweet Freesia

Several years ago, i planted freesia bulbs in various large potted plants. Today i discovered a purple freesia blooming in the plumeria.

Freesia are so sweetly fragrant, i love their perfume. Yet, i really don't have the oomph to focus on this tender bulb, so i hid the freesia bulbs in houseplants so that they would surprise me. As they have been doing for years.

Our tender qualities of heart are sometimes hidden behind our rough exterior or the thin veneer of nice-ness we show to the world.

Let your kindness bloom today. What one thing can you do? What random act of kindness can you offer to your world? Without expecting anything in return. Without even expecting that people will like what you have done. Without even expecting that people will like you.