Gardener's Dilemma

This flower is called "rak dokmai" in Thai language ( rak = love, dokmai = flower). I have yet to know its English name. I had 3 bushes of this.

I love its star-shaped flowers.

This kind of plant grows and blooms so fast.

The leaves and stems are tender and caterpillars love them.

I have seen many lovely butterflies born in my garden. And I love the sights of them!

These little critters can eat the leaves so fast.

Should I save my flowers or these soon-to-be butterflies?

In my garden, I don't only grow plants.
I grow butterflies, and wisdom to solve dilemmas in real life.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
       and lean not on your own understanding;  

in all your ways acknowledge him,
       and he will make your paths straight.

 

Proverbs 3:5-6

This post is an entry to:

Macro Flowers Saturday

Letting Go...

My daughter bought me this potted plant (I have yet to id this one).

The lady selling plants told us that once all buds are open, we have to cut the flowers so we'll see more blooms. Ouch!

Sacrifice... letting go.... these words came to mind.

Yesterday, all buds were open and so flowers were snipped off their stems.

"Cast your bread upon the waters,
  for after many days you will find it again."

Ecclesiastes 11:1

"The only things we can keep are the things we freely give to God.
What we try to keep for ourselves is just what we are sure to lose."
C.S. Lewis

More flower photos here:
Today's Flower

Breathtaking Passiflora

My jaw dropped the first time I saw this! Such an intricate masterpiece. If I were asked to draw the most unique flower that I could ever imagine, I would never think of this design. It must have been passionately thought of.

Someone had thought of this at first! This didn't just pop out of the plant. And just like an artwork that speaks of the artist's character,with this Passiflora I could tell that it's Maker is the most brilliant, a lover of beauty, and passionate towards His creation.

"Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, 

invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made.

So they are without excuse."

-Romans 1:20

“Nature never taught me that there exists a God of glory and of infinite majesty. 

I had to learn that in other ways. But nature gave the word glory a meaning for me.

I still do not know where else I could have found one.”

— C. S. Lewis (1898-1963)

Gardening My Heart

Gardening is one of my favorite chores. I visit my garden after feeding all the pets and before preparing breakfast for he family. This means I really have to be up before everybody else does to have enough time to say "good morning" to all my plants. I have diffrent varieties of them.Some need low maintenance which require only daily watering. Some need high maintenance which require fertilizer, exact amount of shed or sunlight, and occasional tilling of soil around them. And in this time of the year, where temperature reaches to 40+ degree Celcius, my plants need extra more water and care. That's a lot of work to do but I don't mind because I just love gardening.

Recently, I came to realize that I do gardening in my heart, too! I grow flowers in my garden as well as I grow love in my heart. My heart needs my daily attention (weeding is forgiving, tilling is cherishing, watering is serving, cultivating is building memories...) because love doesn't just grow by itself. 

"Shall we compare our hearts to a garden -
with beautiful blooms, straggling weeds,
swooping birds and sunshine, rain -
and most importantly, seeds.
~Grey Livingston

Flowers and Musings In My Garden

These are the few of the many flowers I have in my garden.

Everyday I wonder of their beauty and uniqueness.

One cannot be compared with the other.

Even the ones of the same variety, though they seem to look alike, each of them differ from one another in size, in shade of color, the petal arrangement, and the length of stems.

I don't know all them by name but surely their Maker does.

I'm sure He knows, too, the number of petals and leaves as much as He knows the number of my hair.

He is mindful of His creation. Not one sparrow falls down on the ground without His knowledge and I wonder how it is with flowers?

Does He feel sad as I do each time I see a dying plant in my garden?

Does He rejoice seeing new buds or when seedlings spring up from the ground?

My mind wanders when I'm in the garden......

There are questions left unanswered.....but that does not matter.....

Gardening gives me power over life.

I make life happen.  So much like my Creator.

I am created in His image and likeness.

I rise above all other created things!

"The LORD is righteous in all his ways
       and loving toward all he has made."

Psalm 145:17