There is a Season

While in the garden this afternoon, I realized how much I’ve spotlighted the new growth and full bloom of the garden, while almost completely ignoring the fading and dying back that is a natural part of the cycle. Oh, sure, I’ve talked about letting go of my attachment to the sugar snap peas, but what I’m focusing on here is the beauty that comes at the end of the growing cycle. Instead of mourning the loss of color in the purple coneflower or the holes in the hosta leaves beginning to decay, I’m choosing to celebrate this season in the garden, which has a stunning beauty all it’s own — in color, in texture, in movement through space. It’s our eyes that need to shift to see the garden in this way, and the plants have given us an open, recurring invitation to do so, whenever we are ready.

Day Lily Blossom, Fading

White Daisy, Wilting

Snap Pea Vines, Decaying

Pumpkin Flower, Drying