What an amazing Spring we are enjoying here in Central Texas.

Numerous and copious rain events have canceled our drought, replenished our lakes and nourished our native vegetation. Unseasonably cool temperatures have encouraged our famous wildflower meadows to bloom on and on.  It seems that every inch of available earth along our roadsides and highways has become crowded with a spectacular tapestry of buds and blossoms.  Lady Bird must be smiling in heaven.

“Where flowers bloom, so does hope.”  Lady Bird Johnson

I am endlessly impressed with the delightful combinations of colors and forms that Mother Nature skillfully sews together. Her palette is bold and she has no reservations when stitching together flowers from one family next to another. Inside this crazy quilt, a complex web of life thrives amongst its members. There is sophistication, even elegance to what appears to be a random bunch of plants.

Ratibida columnifera (Mexican hat) with Gaillardia pulchella (Indian blanket)

This wide variety of plants evokes a garden web of life, inviting an array of wild animals, birds, insects and even beneficial parasites to make a home in the meadow. Diversity protects the entire community and keeps the environment in balance. An ecosystem rich with diversity is more resilient.  When external pressures from pests or disease invade, the array of species can limit the destruction because each member of the community carries its own inherent strengths.

Monarda citriodora (Lemon beebalm)

Perhaps, we can take this simple wisdom from a meadow and apply it to our own state of affairs. If plants can complement and even benefit each other while living side by side, why can’t we? We should not undervalue the importance of diversity or discount the power of even one individual’s potential contribution. Let’s take a sewing lesson from Mother Nature and begin to stitch together the fabric of our communities. Each and every one of us is unique and fascinatingly beautiful. We are always stronger together.

“You can’t be suspicious of a tree, or accuse a bird or a squirrel of subversion or challenge the ideology of a violet.” Hal Borland

remember, goodness grows,

Heather