My prized camellia is in full bloom, having staged a miraculous comeback.

What a glorious morning. I watched for a little while as the men laid sod at Debbie’s house. I wanted to go out there and join them as they spread it out like a carpet and trimmed it with their knives. To touch the earth and grass all rolled into a single strip of living, breathing Nature. There’s something about being outside and working the soil. I should have been a nurseryman.

My camellia is in full bloom and larger than ever before. It is now three times the size of the tiny tree that I thought for sure was a goner when I came home from work one day and discovered it totally uprooted and lying on its side. In fact this happened several times before I finally staked it down on all four sides and prayed that it would live. I nursed it back with frequent waterings and fertilizer. And now, well, it’s beautiful. So that’s my garden resurrection story!

Been watering the far backside of my property. Okay, I live in a townhouse, not in the country, but the very back of my little piece o’ paradise is always dry. Seems way too early to be watering, doesn’t it? As I watered, I could hear the hum of my neighbor’s air conditioner. Now, that is just too darn early.

Pulled weeds and cut back roses. Trimmed bushes. Good grief, you’d think it was June.

Found the book “Bearing Fruit” that I had been looking for in a pile papers on my dining room table. What is lost shall be found.

Thought about resurrecting (there’s that word, again) a “mock” gardening column I fiddled with several years ago called “The Anxious Gardener.” It was my attempt at humor. Imagine Woody Allen writing a gardening column—that was “The Anxious Gardener.” Probably better to let it rest. This blog is better.

Put the finishing touches on a feature story for The Federal Credit Union magazine. Working on it has been a joy and a challenge. I have to get it down to 2,500 words, and I am long-winded!

Touched base with Thornell, my contact at Bailey’s Crossroads Community Shelter. Tonight is the last night we host our homeless friends at the church. May they find new life, strength and joy on this fine spring day.

Still let new life and strength upspring,
Still let new joy be given;
And grant the glad new song to ring
Through the new earth and Heaven.

– “The Glory of the Spring How Sweet”