I have often seen gardeners fretting around roses for their high maintenance and attitude in general. I mean the relentless rose food and expensive fertilizers, protecting them from frost and what not. And then I see some of the brave hearts in my humble garden. There’s this tiny yellow and orange tea rose that bloomed all through summer, autumn and is brave enough to be forming buds in this frosty December. No fertilizers or any special treatment through the year at all. I tried recording her journey from bud to bloom in autumn and it’s doing the same dance in December. So much to learn from a rose. I decided to let nature do its thing and left my tea roses tucked in the flower beds for they make great fillers and I love the pop of color. So far so good. They haven’t fought the weather and the frost has been kind. Fingers crossed! The past two months were busy at work with the world returning to the ‘normal’ we were used to. The garden has been slowly but surely strengthening and preparing itself to not only survive the winter but to also enjoy and revel in it.

You can be as strong as you want to be. Don’t listen to forces that tell you otherwise. Replace the word ‘survive’ with ‘thrive’. GROW!

Love & Light.