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| A beautiful rose taken by Sister Karen Streveler |
She arrived on Mother’s Day, a miniature rose bush in a pot wrapped in floral paper. I regarded her as a house plant and watched five little buds turn into pink flowers. When the flowers dried up, I snipped them off and decided to try my luck planting her in the ground in the backyard, even though I’d always thought roses were too snooty and needy for my kind of gardening.
She thrived for a few weeks and produced another batch of buds. Alas, the chipmunks found her and nipped off the buds and left them on the ground just to annoy me.
By then I’d grown fond of her, so I found a larger pot than the one she had arrived in, tucked her in with new potting soil and set her on the front porch. Before she even had a chance to produce buds, I discovered what looked like little eggs on her leaves. Oh no, aphids! Google told me I could either dust her with a chemical or throw her away.
I decided to give her one more chance. I plucked off the leaves where I saw eggs and set her on a garden bench that the chipmunks couldn’t surmount. The afternoon sun beats on her, but I water her every evening. She’s in full bloom. At the first hint of frost, she can be a house plant again.
I want to be like my rose. I trust my Gardener will put me where I need to be and protect me in hard times.
Marge Lundeen, OblSB
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