For Showing Up

Thank you, beautiful blue morning glory for showing up!

     I initially planted my morning glory seeds in pots, thinking the seedings are fragile and I could protect them when they were young.   Then I moved the pots to the bottom of the front porch posts and tended them daily,  watering, feeding, caring for, until they lovingly wrapped themselves around not only the posts, but also the entire front porch, pretty much!

    Eventually,  the leaves began to die off,  and I looked at the pots, and much to my dismay discovered that they were completely potbound....no nutrients..no soil, only roots in the pot!   Then I thought maybe I could take them out of the pots and transplant them, which I knew would be very risky.   Once I broke the plastic pots away,  I realized that the rootball was well above ground level, so I could not put them in the hole in the ground I had dug for that purpose, because that would rip it all apart from the vine!   Then, I constructed an above the ground planting effort with lots of dirt, with potting soil, and with wood chips to cover the ugly above ground construction.    I actually did not have much hope of them surviving the week.

    But, miraculously, they did, and continued to grow and grow and grow.   However, there were no flowers.   Then I realized that morning glories prefer full sun, and these are in a shady area for most of the day!   So I had lots of lovely vines,  which I loved and enjoyed and continued to care for.

    I would check every day, looking and hoping for one little blue flower!  Since is is late September,  I know that frost is not too far away!  Will the frost come before I every see a morning glory flower?

    There were a couple of other before this one,  but this one is by far the proudest and loveliest,  and I touch it and thank it repeatedly, and say thank you for showing up!   This may be the last one,  so I am really appreciating it!

    It has been a long journey raising these glories!   I have loved them even when they were seedlings,  when they were potbound,  when they were just vines.   But I take it very personally that against all odds,  this one beautiful morning glory has come to celebrate with me before winter sets in!