Late Bloomers
Every autumn, over the past three years, I've blogged about the dahlias planted by Master Gardener and dahlia expert Ed Bonci at the demonstration garden at Harts Brook Park. I'd often bump into him tending to the magnificent late bloomers accompanied by his faithful sidekick, an old golden lab named Emma.
This year our paths didn't cross. The dahlia displays disappointed. Something was amiss. Half the bulbs never bloomed. A couple of weeks ago, I spotted Ed from a distance, cleaning up the dahlia beds and throwing the stalks into the compost bin, much earlier in the season than usual. He must have been disappointed as well. Emma wasn't by his side. I stopped in my tracks and turned around, sensing Emma had died. I didn't want to face the decapitated flowers, or my heavy heart, at least not then. The empty, colorless flowerbeds reminded me of the transitory nature of life. Knowing they'd bloom again didn't bring comfort. I've been back since, but on that day I chose to focus on living things. Sometimes, when we want to stop and smell the flowers, they aren't there and that's okay too.
This year our paths didn't cross. The dahlia displays disappointed. Something was amiss. Half the bulbs never bloomed. A couple of weeks ago, I spotted Ed from a distance, cleaning up the dahlia beds and throwing the stalks into the compost bin, much earlier in the season than usual. He must have been disappointed as well. Emma wasn't by his side. I stopped in my tracks and turned around, sensing Emma had died. I didn't want to face the decapitated flowers, or my heavy heart, at least not then. The empty, colorless flowerbeds reminded me of the transitory nature of life. Knowing they'd bloom again didn't bring comfort. I've been back since, but on that day I chose to focus on living things. Sometimes, when we want to stop and smell the flowers, they aren't there and that's okay too.
Posted by Layla Morgan Wilde at 10/14/2011 12:05 AM 
Categories: Nature, Baby Boomers, Photography, Spirituality
Tags: dahlias-master gardener harts brook park-dahlias late bloomers late blooming-autumn flowers
Categories: Nature, Baby Boomers, Photography, Spirituality
Tags: dahlias-master gardener harts brook park-dahlias late bloomers late blooming-autumn flowers
Beautiful and sad. Sad, but beautiful.
Reply to this
What a beautiful post. Dahlias were my mother's favorite flowers and I always find comfort seeing them bloom in yards around my neighborhood.
Reply to this
The best way to overcome disappointment is to find something else to be enthusiastic about. Which you did on your most recent visit to Hart Brooks Park. But of course there's no replacing the likes of Emma, however many dahlias bloom in the future.
Reply to this
Achingly beautiful.
Reply to this