Delicate Flower

Sha. Hright.

This sweet African Iris, and its friends, are in our back yard all spring, summer and even fall. The blooms seem to pop up like fireworks and fizzle out overnight. But, the plant from which this flower springs is understated, yet quite powerful.

This could be a story about not judging a book by its cover, or how beauty is fleeting, but it is only a story about the slow, patient growth of the leaves of this plant.

It is a delicate flower, only to be guarded by some of the strongest leaves around. They grow tall and thin reaching for every drop of sunlight they can get. They must be pretty happy to be in the sunniest spot, too. In fact, these plants were trimmed down to a height of about twenty four inches. I didn't measure, but I can tell you they are at least twice as tall now and show no signs of stopping.

It's been sunny and hot the last few days with temps in the upper nineties. Without a.c., it's always nice to open the windows to get just a little fresh air inside the house. Funny thing is, my sweetie tried opening the window in the room with a ceiling fan, and the screen was broken.

I panicked a little inside. We live in a nice neighborhood, but I'm not naive.  My sweetie told me we'd had an intruder last summer.

The African Iris.

Seems its leaves had grown large enough to finagle slipping through a crack and invading the window space. Conditions must have been prime, for it grew enough to bend the screen and break it. Seriously.

Delicate flower.

Yes, it's enough to get upset, but not really upset. The screen can be replaced and the plants cut back to avoid the intruder coming back.

But as I took my walk this morning, after the scale hadn't budged, I was reminded of this amazing plant. None of that screen break-in happened overnight. In fact, it was a slow and steady invasion that happened under our noses.

Obviously, I had to be reminded to persevere. My goal will not happen overnight. Hell, it won't happen for months. But it will happen.

I'll be patient.
I'll work at it every day and the reward will be sweet.

And I promise- no break-ins! Unless, of course, you mean "breaking in" a new pair of jeans....